Science & Research:
Psychology

Why Is Psychology Important in Parenting?

Having an intellectual understanding of psychological factors helps us parent our children with more patience and perspective. Especially when our children veer “outside the norm” and/or we also feel more triggered than we ever expected, having some concepts to ground our experience can be extremely helpful.

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What Psychological Factors Have the Greatest Impact on Parenting?

There are key components of psychology that put parenting into perspective. With this perspective, we become empowered to take smart actions that yield the best outcomes for every family member, including us.

 

The psychological factors I focus on are the ones that matter most to parents. They are: 

• Child Development

• Grit and Resilience

• Trauma Awareness

• Behavioral Challenges

• Addiction and Recovery

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Who Are The Leading Experts?

I rely on a wide range of experts to inform my teachings. I place a high value on multi-disciplinary approaches, since they offer a variety of perspectives and a team approach. The result is that I select best practices from each discipline based on my training and experience.

Child Development:

• Alison Gopnik, D.Phil; Erik Erikson

Grit and Resilience

• Angela Duckworth, PhD

Trauma Awareness

• James Gordon, MD

Behavioral Challenges

• Bryce D. McLeod, PhD

Addiction and Recovery

• AA, Alanon

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What Research Proves Psychology is Important in Parenting?

The more we understand how humans operate, the better we can raise our children to be well-adjusted adults. If parenting is extra-hard because we have a difficult child and/or we had a difficult childhood ourselves, we need more understanding and support.

 

Here are publications to review:​

• Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, by Angela Duckworth, PhD.

• The Transformation, by James Gordon MD

• Differently Wired, by Deborah Reber

• Alcoholics Anonymous 4th Edition, by Alcoholics Anonymous

• One Day at A Time, by Alanon Family Groups

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Important Psychology Findings for Parents

• Children have their own developmental path.

• Every child is wired differently - many are not “neurotypical”

• Healing your own trauma is essential to parenting well.

• Your past trauma impacts your parenting.

• Dysfunctional/addictive patterns are passed from parent to child.

• It is possible to replace dysfunctional generational patterns with healthy ones.