Parent Seminar Blog
This summer, Base Camp welcomed parents and caregivers to For Parents: A Seminar, to glean wisdom from a professional counselor we had the honor of hosting. Brianna Edwards is an Orlando-based Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC), Registered Play Therapist (RPT), and TBRI Practitioner (Trust-Based Relational Intervention) specializing in children and teens (ages 3-18), trauma, and attachment and parenting.
We wanted to share some of the impacts with you, so we interviewed some Base Camp parents about their favorite things from Brianna’s presentation. We’re grateful to Andrew and Rachel Cochrum (parents to two kiddos ages 3 and 1), and Joe and Keijo Bollinger (parents to four kiddos ages 13, 12, 11, and 9), for sharing some of their highlights from the seminar.
One of the Bollingers’ favorite takeaways was Session One’s focus on "attunement" in parenting. Attunement is our ability to be aware of and respond to our child’s emotional needs. With multiple children it’s important to learn how to connect well with each child individually, acknowledging they’re all created with unique personalities and giftings. They shared that it was also very helpful to learn that children often don't have words to describe what they’re feeling, and parents can employ the technique of “reflective listening” by observing the situation and coming alongside a child to offer the vocabulary they need to express how they’re feeling in different situations.
Session Two encouraged parents to look inward and identify some of the relational wounds they’ve received throughout their own lives. Understanding that we don’t parent from a blank slate, but from our own personal history we carry with us, it’s essential to recognize the reasons we react the way we do to certain triggers before we’re able to work toward becoming the healthiest version of ourselves, in any area of life, but also specifically in parenting.
The Cochrums were especially impacted by learning that having empathy for yourself is essential for healing from wounds we’ve experienced as individuals, most often in our own childhoods. Also, absorbing the fact that knowledge doesn’t equal understanding. A gap must be bridged between our heads and our hearts to be able to practice empathy and lead toward healing. Brianna shared an insightful handout comparing and contrasting the lies we believe in our heads, with what the Bible says is true. These lies are directly connected to the emotions we feel in our hearts when we’re triggered by a child’s behavior or by a circumstance, and replacing the lies with truth from Scripture is powerful and restorative.
Something beautiful about God’s truth is that it helps us realize we’re not alone in our struggles. The Cochrums noted, “Everyone is on their own journey of unlearning and learning, so we’re not alone in this. Brianna continually reminded us to be compassionate and gentle with ourselves. Nothing is permanent, so even when you make mistakes, you can always repair and reconnect. And while it’s natural to feel a lot of pressure when it comes to raising children, we’re humans raising humans and there’s grace mixed up in all of it for all of us.”
It’s our mission to support you, and one way we can do that is by encouraging you to take steps toward healing and wholeness for yourself. As Brianna mentioned at the seminar, harm happens in relationship, but so does healing. If you’re interested in working toward becoming a more mentally, emotionally, and spiritually healthy version of yourself in community with others, please join us for reGROUP, Summit’s recovery ministry. Our reGROUP ministry offers a safe, supportive space to begin walking toward healing and hope as we embrace our individual story and why it matters.
While you can join reGROUP at any time, Invitation Night is a great time to start, and is happening Monday, August 21st, at our Summit Orlando location