Parent Support

COUNSELING IN SOUTH AUSTIN & ONLINE ACROSS TX

Compassionate support for every stage of parenthood.

“As children develop, their brains “mirror” their parent’s brain. In other words, the parent’s own growth and development impact the child’s brain. As parents become more aware and emotionally healthy, their children reap the rewards and move toward health as well.” – Dr. Daniel J. Siegel

At MCC, we believe that your own wellbeing matters just as much as your child’s! While your child may be doing hard work in individual therapy, we believe that for families to experience effective change, we must support the family system. Our goal is to share tools and resources to help you reinforce what we’re working on in session—and support your child’s growth in meaningful ways between visits.

Our Work with Parents

Our services with parents are tailored to what works best with your family. Throughout the counseling relationship you can expect:

Ongoing parenting sessions when your child is in play therapy. We typically meet with parents every 4-6 weeks to review progress towards goals and incorporate parenting techniques and skills that can be helpful to incorporate at home.

A weekly check-in form to keep consistent communication among parents and the therapist.

Child-parent therapy sessions. We strongly believe that strengthening the parent and child relationship is the foundation of effective mental health services. For this reason, parents may be invited into the play therapy sessions to focus on strengthening the parent-child relationship. During this special playtime with your child, you can expect for the therapist to lead you in:

Learning ways to show attunement with your child

Exploring connecting rituals that you can also utilize at home

Exploring and coping through big emotions together

Practicing new ways to communicate

Having fun together through play!

Our Work with Parents

In addition to regular meetings with caregivers throughout your child’s play therapy journey, we also offer additional support for parents. This includes parenting groups and opportunities to connect with others who are interested in exploring and processing their parenting experience in a supportive community. This also includes one on one parenting sessions for parents who would like to learn new ways to understand and connect with their child.

 
Below, you’ll find some of the additional approaches we use to support you on your parenting journey.

Family Play Therapy involves the whole family in playful, interactive sessions to strengthen relationships and improve communication. Using games, art, and other creative activities, family members learn to understand each other better, express emotions safely, and solve problems together. It creates a supportive space where connection and healing can grow through shared experiences.

SPACE is a parent-focused treatment program designed to help children and teens with anxiety or OCD by working directly with parents instead of the child. It teaches parents how to respond supportively while reducing accommodations that may be unintentionally reinforcing anxiety.

Circle of Security is a relationship-based program that helps parents better understand their child’s emotional needs and how to respond in ways that build security and trust. It teaches parents how to support their child’s independence while also being a safe, comforting base when their child needs connection or reassurance. The goal is to strengthen the parent-child bond and promote healthy emotional development.

Child-Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT) is a play-based program that helps strengthen the bond between parents and their child. Parents learn special play skills to better understand their child’s emotions, build trust, and improve communication and behavior. CPRT empowers parents to become the healing agent in their child’s life through consistent, supportive connection.

Positive Discipline is a parenting approach that focuses on teaching and guiding children with kindness and firmness, rather than punishment. It helps children develop responsibility, problem-solving skills, and self-control while strengthening the parent-child relationship.