Ways to unlock your child´s potential
Ways to unlock your child´s potential
By Valeria Vilar, MA, BEd, LMHC
Raising a child is a challenge for every parent. No doubt about it. Parenting is not a discipline that is innate. Quite the contrary, it is a learning process that requires both patience and dedication.
Some parents lean towards anticipating events and searching for information on what to expect while their children grow. Others rely more on intuition, trusting that it will be a wise guide when conflicts appear. Both kinds of parents are certainly trying to give their children the best they can.
Despite high quality information or a well tuned intuition, parents learn sooner than later that life presents situations that are not easily addressed by these resources. Parents then seek psychotherapeutic advice out of frustration or anger, but always saddened and truly overwhelmed. Occasionally they might be able to handle the difficulties at home within certain limits, but when the alarm regarding the behavior of their children rings outside their home they cannot spare more time. Typically the message that something is out of balance comes from school, when the child does not adjust or cannot achieve reasonable social or academic expectations. Also, the alarm could be related to the children’s social life, and it could come in the form of a call from another parent…a very difficult situation to face. It is very important for parents to keep contact with the child’s teacher along the school year as a means of being informed whether their child is going through the same difficulties in other classes, and /or with different teachers or group of kids.
The reasons for many problems could frequently be learning difficulties, behavioral issues, or both at the same time. When parents notice that their child is struggling academically and not achieving the grade level, it is advisable to incentivize the memory, perception, attention, critical thinking, and reasoning by developing a routine to create the habit, and stimulate the cognitive structures every day. By exercising theses abilities and developing the aptitudes that are in the base of any learning situation, the child is going to create the possibility to manage his or her learning, achieving gradually the capability of learning how to learn.
On the other hand, if the problem seems to be behavioral, and the way parents have repeatedly tried to modify it is not producing the desired results, it may be time to consider asking for professional help.
In my professional practice I have seen that, very often, a learning problem appears along with some kind of behavioral manifestation, such as low self esteem, lack of attention, hyperactivity, aggressiveness, isolation, fears, among others. This is the reason why an isolated symptom cannot be taken into consideration. Even though this symptom might appear similar to what other children experience, every child is unique and deserves a personalized help. Parents can provide help in several ways, as long as they have received accurate information about their child’s difficulties and as long as they are trained to use the right tools to implement the changes they want to achieve. By providing the child with life skills that his or her uniqueness deserves, we are motivating him or her to develop his or her own talents, unlocking his or her potential.
Valeria Vilar, MA, BEd, LMHC, is the Clinical Director of Open Mind Psychotherapy & Wellness Center. She is a Psychotherapist. The center is located at the Weston Town Center since 1998. Additional information, can be reached at (954) 385-9550, and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by visiting www.openmind.cc