Many parents worry about their kids when there is constant court involvement behind the scenes. You may be divorced from the person, but not from the cycles of conflict and pain.

You’re stressed. You lose sleep. You mourn for the vision they had of their child’s upbringing- that there would be peace.

Instead, you get a racing heart when your co-parent’s name pops up on an email, and tense parenting time exchanges at a court approved neutral location.

How do you help your children when a person you loved has suddenly become an enemy?

Lion Mind Parenting helps you move forward with the courage and strength to use the situation for growth and even flourishing.

Lion Mind Parenting seeks to develop capable families.

Not brokenfamilies.

Not conflict-free families.

Not even perfect families.

‍ ‍Capable families.

Families that can:

• learn new ways to communicate and de-escalate conflict

• regulate emotions

• tolerate discomfort

• repair after mistakes

• navigate differences

• parent well through the pressures of conflict

• use hard situations to learn and grow

• be a protective of children

• recover from adversity

• teach your children relational values

  The “Lion Mind” is a metaphor from Larry Rosenberg’s book, “Breath by Breath.” The story goes that if a person waves a bone in front of a dog’s face and throws it, you would predict, “the dog will mindlessly follow the bone.”  If you wave the same bone in front a lion’s face, you might hesitate to answer what the lion would do. With the dog in the metaphor, the person who controls the bone controls the dog. The lion has more composure and therefore more choices. The lion considers what is in front of, what is behind, and what is to the sides of its view.

  Using this metaphor as a guide, Lion Mind Parenting program is developed for families navigating high-conflict co-parenting, separation, divorce, reunification, and court-involved parenting challenges.

  Through 10 structured lessons,  parents learn:

• New ways to recognize and handle triggers

• Refine decision-making and judgment under pressure

• The hidden impacts of a post-separation high conflict parenting relationship on children

• Reduce emotional contagion and loyalty binds

• Use developmentally appropriate discipline and expectations

• Communicate with your coparent in neutral, child-focused ways

• Recognize when you are gatekeeping or using triangulation

• Learn how to enrich your relationship with your child when you have a difficult co-parenting dynamic

• Tools for de-escalating conflict

• Taking ownership of your part and changes you need to make

• Model relational repair and accountability, teaching the value of working through issues

Groups are capped at 6 members to ensure the highest quality of care and learning. In Lion Mind groups, through self-reflection, non-coercive accountability, and tapping into a desire to learn and grow, parents explore the emotional and relational patterns that keep anger and hurt alive — and teaches them how to respond in order to reduce its impact on children. The goal is to give you knowledge, tools, and support to parent well while in the midst of the incredible pressures of family court.

Investment: Participation begins with your initial intake session which is $160. Sessions are held weekly in my office and are $75 per 90 minute session. The group is 10 sessions long after which you will receive a certificate of completion. Sessions are structured with an educational component, followed by discussion and practical application. Participants will receive a manual with all materials.

Co-parents attend sessions on separate days.

Add-on sessions:

In addition to Lion Mind Parenting, parents can engage in family sessions with their children to practice validation and other skills learned during Lion Mind, build trust, and mend rifts.