Positive Discipline Parent
Coaching
Austin Therapists Specializing in Positive Discipline
Parenting Through Understanding and Collaboration
At Austin Family Counseling (AFC), we believe that effective parenting is rooted in understanding and collaboration. Based on Positive Discipline, a model developed by Dr. Jane Nelsen, we offer parent coaching and workshops designed to empower and encourage parents while using discipline as a means to teach and inspire children.
Positive Discipline provides parents and caregivers with respectful, non-punitive methods to inspire children to develop valuable social and life skills. Our coaching sessions help parents navigate common challenges at all stages of childhood:
- Infants and Toddlers: Learn effective communication and establish healthy boundaries. We’ll provide practical solutions for managing routines like sleeping, eating, and potty training, ensuring these lessons are positive experiences.
- Preschoolers: Encourage positive social skills during play and cooperation. Our approach helps you view misbehavior as a teaching opportunity, instilling respect and connection.
- School-Aged Children: Foster open communication and problem-solving skills. We assist parents in creating a supportive environment that addresses friendships, homework, and self-esteem.
- Tweens and Teens: Navigate the challenges of adolescence while maintaining connection. We offer strategies to bridge communication gaps and defuse power struggles, reinforcing mutual respect and collaboration.
By helping you experience the world from your child’s perspective, we equip you with positive tools to foster collaboration and understanding within your family. We offer both individual parent coaching sessions and workshops with other parents for a community-oriented approach to parenting.
More About Positive Discipline
Positive Discipline is grounded in the principles developed by Alfred Adler and Rudolf Dreikurs, focusing on teaching young people to become responsible, respectful, and resourceful members of their communities. This approach, based on the best-selling Positive Discipline books by Dr. Jane Nelsen and her co-authors, teaches essential social and life skills in a manner that is respectful and encouraging for both children and adults—including parents, teachers, and youth workers.
Research indicates that children are inherently motivated to connect with others. When children feel a strong sense of connection to their community, family, and school, they are less likely to misbehave. To thrive as contributing members of their community, children must learn vital social and life skills. Positive Discipline is founded on the understanding that discipline is a skill to be taught, providing a framework for both discipline and growth.
5 Criteria for Positive Discipline
Is it kind and firm at the same time?
(Does it maintain respect and encouragement?)
Does it help children feel a sense of belonging and significance?
(Does it foster connection within their family and community?)
Is it effective long-term?
(Does it avoid short-term punitive measures that have negative long-term effects?)
Does it teach valuable social and life skills for good character?
(Does it promote respect, problem-solving, cooperation, and accountability?)
Does it invite children to discover how capable they are?
(Does it encourage them to use their personal power in constructive ways?)
