Understand what your child needs to reconnect and grow

Parenting a child with big feelings, impulsive behavior, constant movement, shutdowns, or difficulty following through can leave you questioning what your child needs—and whether you are responding the right way.

This eight-week education and support group helps parents understand what may be happening beneath the behavior, respond with greater steadiness, and create routines and supports that make success more possible for the whole family.

Weekly evening meetings|4–16 participants
For the complete eight-session series:

One parent or caregiver: $175
Two parents or caregivers from the same family: $250

Behavior looks different when you understand what is happening underneath

This group begins with a compassionate premise: if a person can, they will. When a child cannot meet the demands of a moment, the barrier may be difficult for an adult to see. The child may be overwhelmed, operating from protection, or unable to access attention, impulse control, working memory, flexibility, or another developing skill.

Understanding the reason for a behavior does not mean removing expectations or avoiding boundaries. It gives you a more useful starting point for teaching skills, setting limits, supporting repair, and helping your child return to connection.

Who This Group Is For

This group is for parents and caregivers of children ages 4–12 who may:

Experience big feelings, intense reactions, meltdowns, or shutdowns
Struggle with attention, impulsivity, transitions, or following directions
Seem constantly in motion or have difficulty adjusting their activity level
Know what to do but have trouble doing it consistently
Lose things, forget instructions, abandon tasks, or need frequent reminders
Become discouraged, ashamed, or convinced they cannot succeed
Have ADHD, suspected ADHD, executive-functioning differences, a sensitive nervous system, or behavior shaped by early stress
Need more support than punishment, repetition, or increased pressure has provided

It is also for parents who feel overwhelmed by the difficulties of parenting and want to take an active, compassionate role in helping their child develop.

What You Will Explore

The group is designed to help you:

Recognize when your child is available for connection and when their nervous system has shifted into protection
Understand how felt safety, attachment, and connection influence behavior
Look beyond the immediate behavior to identify the need or lagging skill underneath it
Respond to intense behavior without adding shame
Use encouragement to support confidence, self-esteem, and willingness to try again
Understand ADHD as a difference affecting regulation and performance—not a lack of intelligence, caring, desire, or willpower
Recognize how executive-functioning skills affect attention, inhibition, memory, time, planning, motivation, emotion, and problem-solving
Adjust routines, expectations, environments, and supports so success becomes more attainable
Notice your own activation and practice returning to a steadier response
Develop a practical plan shaped around your child and family

What This Group Is—and Is Not

This is a parent and caregiver education and support group. Children do not attend.
It offers information, reflection, skills practice, and connection with other caregivers.
It is not an assessment and will not diagnose your child.
It is not a one-size-fits-all behavior or discipline system.
It will not ask you to eliminate boundaries, expectations, accountability, or consequences.
It will not blame parents for a child’s nervous-system or executive-functioning differences.
It does not promise perfect behavior or a conflict-free household.
It does not replace your child’s medical, psychiatric, educational, or individual mental health care.
You will be invited to consider what fits your child, your family, and your values.

Common Questions

Does my child need an ADHD diagnosis? No. The nervous-system, connection, shame, and self-esteem material can be useful across many kinds of behavioral challenges. The second half of the group includes substantial ADHD and executive-functioning education, so it will be especially relevant to families navigating diagnosed or suspected ADHD.
Will my child attend with me? No. This group is designed for parents and caregivers. Children do not attend the meetings.
Is this a class or a support group? It is both. Each session includes understandable information, practical application, reflection, and an opportunity to connect with other caregivers who may recognize parts of your experience.
Will you tell me how to discipline my child? The group does not prescribe a single discipline system. It will help you understand what may be driving a behavior and choose boundaries, supports, consequences, and skill-building approaches that better match the situation.
Will medication be discussed? Medication may be discussed generally as one possible component of ADHD care. The group will not provide individualized medical advice. Medication decisions should be made with a qualified prescribing professional who knows your child.
Can two caregivers from one family attend? Yes. Two parents or caregivers from the same family may register together at the family rate.
What if I already feel like I am failing as a parent? You do not need to arrive with the right answers. The group is designed to replace blame and shame with clearer understanding, practical support, and more workable next steps.
How is privacy handled? The group will establish shared expectations around privacy and respect. As with any group, complete confidentiality cannot be guaranteed because it depends on every participant honoring those agreements.

Your Eight-Week Journey

Session 1: Connection & Protection

Learn about connection mode, protection mode, attachment, and felt safety. Accessible “owl,” “watchdog,” and “possum” metaphors will help make different nervous-system states easier to recognize and discuss.

Session 2: Read the State, Not Only the Behavior

Practice recognizing what connection and protection may look like in your child. Use state scaling to identify changes in behavior, emotion, and capacity. Explore encouragement, praise, shame, self-esteem, and what helps a child remain willing to try.

Session 3: Helping Your Child Return to Connection

Learn what a child may need when protection has taken over. Explore co-regulation, connection before problem-solving, appropriate limits, and ways to help your child regain access to the skills they already have.

Session 4: Staying Connected When You Are Activated

Your nervous system is part of the interaction, too. Notice what happens inside you during difficult moments and practice responses that support steadiness, self-compassion, boundaries, and repair.

Session 5: What Is ADHD—and How Can It Affect My Child?

Understand how ADHD can affect attention, impulse control, activity level, motivation, emotional regulation, and consistent performance. Shift from “They will not” toward a more useful question: “What is making this difficult right now?”

Session 6: Executive Functioning in Everyday Life

Explore the developing abilities that help children pause, notice themselves, remember directions, consider what comes next, use self-talk, manage emotions, sustain effort, and solve problems. Practice identifying which skill a situation is asking your child to use.

Session 7: Making Success More Possible

Learn how stimulation, novelty, immediate feedback, movement breaks, smaller steps, visual supports, accountability, and environmental changes may help. Consider how home routines, school supports, and conversations with qualified healthcare professionals can work together.

Session 8: Helping Skills Grow Through Everyday Life

Turn what you have learned into practical opportunities for skill-building. Identify activities, routines, playful practice, and family supports that fit your child. Leave with a plan for what you want to try, observe, and adjust next.

You do not have to parent from a place of constant alarm

A clearer understanding of your child’s nervous system and developing skills can create more room for connection, steadier boundaries, and responses that help rather than intensify the struggle.

You do not need to become a perfectly regulated parent. You can learn to notice what is happening, repair when things go off course, and build conditions that help both you and your child grow.