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Sample Workshops

 

  1. Tears, Tantrums and Other Trying Behaviors:  Gain a better understanding of your child’s emotions and learn how to confidently and lovingly handle their emotional moments.  You will learn why your child “loses it” over the littlest things, how to handle a meltdown with love and respect, the science behind crying, and tools to help you parent more confidently.

  2. Parenting the Anxious Child:  Anxiety is quite widespread in children today.  It can show up as intense separation anxiety, fear of rejection or humiliation, monsters under the bed, nightmares, sleep issues, withdrawal, strong will and inflexibility, pleasing, incessant worry, indecisiveness, and perfectionism. Why is it that a brief word of reassurance from a parent doesn't calm an anxious child?  Learn the basics of a child's alarm system and how you can work with your child rather than create power struggles.  You'll take home at least two Listening Tools for supporting a shift in your child and also for getting the support you need.  Our own anxiety cannot be ignored when we have an anxious child.

  3. Working Through Your Child’s Emotions:  Are you overwhelmed by crying, tantrums, aggressive behaviors, challenges with sharing, or other behaviors that often turn into power struggles?  Do you describe your child as a “strong willed child” but cringe inside at the thought of the power struggles that ensue?  What is your child really trying to say when they don’t listen to you, act aggressive, try to be controlling, have a fit or have just gone off track?  Parenting is difficult work and you deserve to be supported.  This two hour talk will give you a glimpse of what’s going on underneath your child’s behaviors.  You can actually turn the table on those power struggles and be an empowered parent.  We will explore the relationship between emotions and behaviors, and how vital connection is to a child’s emotional well being and the development of their growing brain.  You’ll take home at least two Listening Tools for supporting your child’s development and for getting the support you need.  There will be time for Q&A. 

  4. Building Your Child’s Confidence & Self Esteem Through Play:   Play is the language of children, but did you know that you can actually use play to work with challenging and “stuck” behaviors, foster cooperation, build confidence, develop a sense of safety for your child, work through stressful situations and simply blow off steam?  With a few tweaks on how we “play” with our children, we can actually support our children in healing their hurts.  This two hour talk will give you an understanding of the power of play in your relationship with your child, how play builds connection and the importance of connection to your child's brain and emotional well being.   At the same time, you will relax more and have a lot more fun.  You will take home at least two Listening Tools for supporting a closer bond between you and your child.  There will be time for Q&A.

  5. Sibling Rivalry:  One of the most wearing jobs in parenting is refereeing fights between siblings! And the sibling difficulties build up over time because the tools we have—rewards and punishment of various kinds—are so poorly suited to our children’s needs.

    Why is it that children who were born to be connected to one another fight frequently and we parents, who long to love our children wholeheartedly, get discouraged?  This class will introduce you to the skills and understanding we need to truly mend children’s relationships with one another, and with us.  We’ll discuss what’s at the root of sibling tensions and what it takes to melt the tightly-held upsets inside our children, so they can relax with one another, and enjoy one another again.  We’ll also discuss what to do with the weariness or the frustration that gets triggered in us day after day. At least two specific tools to tame sibling rivalry will be introduced.

  6. Transitions to Toddlerhood:  Is your child throwing a tantrum left and right?  We don’t typically schedule tantrums into our lives, but every child has them.  There is a simple reason why children have tantrums.  Parenting is difficult work and you deserve to be supported.  This two hour talk will give you a new perspective on what causes tantrums, ideas for calming yourself and your toddler, the types of communication that help resolve a tantrum, and an understanding of the importance of connection to your child's brain and emotional well being.  This workshop will help you and your child relax.  You’ll take home at least two Listening Tools to develop a positive outcome from tantrums and for getting the support you need.  There will be time for Q&A. 

  7. Healing the Hurt of Separation:  Does your child struggle with Separation Anxiety?  Whether it shows up when its time to go to (pre)school, going with a babysitter or playgroup or when it's time to go to bed, separation anxiety is not easy.  We want our children to be confident and relaxed when we are leaving them.  We can help your children become more connected to have that kind of confidence.

  8. Parenting with a Playful Spirit:  Play is the language of children, but why do we sometimes find it difficult to "play" wholeheartedly with our child?  Often adults think we have to live in a stern and serious role to be good parents.  But we can actually use play to help our child work through challenging and “stuck” behaviors, foster cooperation, build confidence, develop a sense of safety for our child, work through stressful situations and simply blow off steam.  With a few tweaks on how we “play” with our child, we can actually support our child in healing his hurts.  This talk will give you an understanding of the power of play in relationship with our child, how play builds connection and the importance of connection to our child's brain and emotional well being while at the same time helping us to explore why we sometimes limit ourselves in play.   This talk will help us relax more and have a lot more fun with our child.  You will take home at least two Listening Tools for supporting a closer bond between you and your child as well as one tool to help you break through your boundaries around play. 

  9. Helping Children Play Together:  Your child is good, even when he/she is full of feelings and isn’t able to ‘play nicely’ with others.  Almost all of us struggle with understanding and helping our children when they hurt others, and when they are hurt by other children.  Aggression is a fact of life, but you can learn how to help your children cooperate willingly, interact thoughtfully and play generously.  You will learn tools that can help you navigate those tense moments between children and adults.

  10. "It's Mine!" All About Sharing:  Children love to share!  To be able to share, a child needs to feel a strong sense of connection. When he feels close to others and emotionally safe, he can wait for a turn. He has what he really needs; a sense of connection buoys him through little disappointments.  Learn the main reasons why sharing breaks down, why adult enforced solutions have strong limitations, and a sharing approach that works.  When this sharing approach is used, children and adults relax around this issue.  Over time, the tensions around sharing melt away.

  11. Helping Children with Aggression:  Worried about your child's aggressive tendencies?  Tired of him lashing out or getting in trouble at school or daycare?  You can effectively address hitting, kicking and biting and you can gain confidence as a parent.  I will teach you concrete tools to address aggression, stop the behavior, and strengthen the relationship between you and your child.  You will learn the brain science behind aggressive behaviors and at least two effective tools to address this issue. 

  12. Setting Limits with Young Children:  When children are under stress they lose their patience, their love of fun, their easygoing ability to make each day a good one. And then they do some unreasonable, unworkable behavior, such as squabbling, grabbing toys from someone else, or even being aggressive.  Caring adults can set limits on our children’s behavior in order to help them relieve the stress they are under, and regain their innate good judgment and joy in cooperation.  Learn what is happening in a child's brain when that child has gone off track.  We can play a powerful role to bring a child back on track.  Learn how to set limits with warmth to help our child regain their good nature. 

  13. Family Power Struggles:  Power struggles are inevitable because children have different needs and different priorities than parents.  Our children like to make decisions about their lives and parents need to focus on more practical matters:  eating, dressing, bathing, sleeping, learning to use the potty, and getting into the car seat.  Luckily, there are easy, fun ways to help dissolve power struggles. When your child feels connected to you, loved by you, and safe, she won’t feel so inclined to oppose the things that must be done.  Learn at least two Listening Tools to dissolve the tensions around power struggles and create more laughter and joy in your family.

  14. Getting Through School Struggles:  Children love to learn. Learning is as natural as breathing to them—they absorb every single thing that happens. They learn through play, they learn from the behavior of the children and adults around them, they learn from their own experiments. By all rights, going to school, with its new experiences, many children, and opportunities to master powerful skills like reading and math, should be exciting and fun for them.  When a child isn’t able to concentrate or to learn, there’s usually an emotional issue that blocks his progress. It feels bad on the inside when you can’t think. It feels scary on the inside when you can’t do what’s expected of you, and you don’t know why or what to do about it.  When we parents see our child caught in upset around learning, it’s usually infuriating.  We have several powerful tools to help you be an effective parent and to support your child in moving through whatever is blocking his/her progress. 

  15. Helping Young Children Sleep:  Most children struggle at some time or another with sleeping through the night. Of course, when infants are quite young, they need to wake several times in the night, eat, and be reassured that their parents are close and all is well in their world. The need for reassurance, in addition to nourishment, is even stronger if a baby has had difficult times in his life already.  However, many children experience feelings that prevent them from sleeping through the night at least some of the time.  We parents want to help our children learn to sleep through the night, but are faced with a recommended method that requires letting the child cry, frightened and alone, in his own bed, without response from us.  For most parents, this doesn't feel appropriate.  So how do we support our children in moving in the direction of good, deep sleep?  Parenting by Connection provides great, practical tools and respectful listening to help your child and you get on track to more restful slumber in your lives.

  16. Healing Children's Fears:  There are many circumstances that can instill fear in a child, including two adults who aren't always able to provide all the attention and tendersness a young child expects, early separation from a mother or father, unexplained changes in who cares for her, family transitions, and direct physical trauma.  Fear can make it hard for a child to connect and make eye contact, to experiment or trust people, to slow down and enjoy you in a relaxed way.  A fearful child can become edgy and hard to please or withdrawn and socially disengaged.  Children often show their fears indirectly by going off track, such as avoiding certain activities, becoming aggressive, or episodes of anger.  Children have a natural process to recover from their fears.  Learn about this inborn biological process and the power we have as parents to support our children to heal their fears.

  17. Preparing for the Birth of a Sibling:  Are you expecting another child?  Or has your little one already arrived?  No matter how well you have prepared a child for the birth of a sibling, your older child will have big feelings that can be expressed in a number of ways, including whininess, withdrawal or aggression.  There are healthy ways of working with uneasy feelings around integrating a new member into the family.  In this workshop, you’ll learn what you can do to prepare older siblings and yourself for the arrival of a new baby and useful strategies once the baby has come.  Led by Parenting by Connection Instructor, Kristen Volk, this workshop outlines some of the “Listening Tools” that can help you deepen the connection with your children and handle the emotional moments that arise for older siblings when a new baby arrives.  You’ll learn how to help your child recover from the sadness of separation when you attend to the baby and to still feel the enormous love and devotion you have though you are not as available.  You will also learn some family games that can build lasting bonds between siblings.  We will also talk about and practice how to find support for yourself when sleep is scarce and emotions flare.  There will be time for Q&A.

  18. Building a Conscious Mama, Dada, and Baby Relationship (3 week class):  Infants are expressing themselves at every waking moment, but are we tuned into their messages?  Learn how communication between you and your baby supports the development of neural pathways, leading to enhanced cognitive abilities, emotional flexibility, and social functioning.  We will practice Listening Tools in class with your child to understand your babies’ signals and support a secure attachment that can positively affect your child into adulthood.  These techniques are beneficial for children of all ages, but we will focus on infants and toddlers.  Infants 12 months and under welcome.  Practice with your child.  You will also take home Listening Tools that provide you with resource to support yourself.  There will be time for Q&A.

Setting Limits with Children

 

Sat., January 20th

1:30 – 3:00 pm

 

People House

Chapel Room (2nd flr)

3035 W. 25th Avenue

Denver, CO 80211

Parking in rear of bldg.

This workshop will be focused on parents of children 0-12.

 

Free to the public. 

Register here.

 

 

 

 

Upcoming Talks
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