Parent Coaching for the 21st Century
Become a confident parent, and warmly support your child through any challenge.
Daily struggles our clients face with parenting
Do you sometimes feel at a loss for how to support your child? Does your child have tantrums and meltdowns, and you are unsure of how to handle this? Or maybe you have a teenager who is prone to mood swings and emotional outbursts, leaving you feeling ineffective and demoralized when you try to help. Perhaps your child is defiant, and your strategies to increase compliance aren’t working.
You are not alone.
Parenting in today’s world is more
challenging and confusing than ever
With omnipresent social media, cultural shifts, and mental health concerns on the rise, knowing the best way to support your child can feel overwhelming or downright impossible. Which parenting book is right? Which online resource? What advice to take?
This is why we founded our parent, children, and adolescent therapy clinic.
From playground drama to teen angst, our approach pairs real-world wisdom with evidence-based advice and support.
At FFEW, our clinical psychologists, psychotherapists, and social workers help you find harmony at home, become confident in your parenting, and cultivate warm loving relationships with your children. Our one goal? A healthy generation of kids. Children who feel heard and seen.
And this next generation starts with you.
We believe parents are
key agents of change.
To understand your children and why they behave a certain way, we need to look at the environment they are growing up in. We dig into how your parenting approach is shaping your child’s ability to regulate their emotions. Do they feel seen, accepted, and understood? You don’t need to embark on this journey alone. This is why we have created a special program designed just for parents.
We support parents across the full journey –whether you’re guiding a preschooler or launching a young adult. Our approach is rooted in early childhood education, attachment theory, and emotional intelligence. We match our tactics according to child development, prioritizing effective communication and empathy.
About Dr. Zia Lakdawalla &
the FFEW Team
Dr. Zia, Ph.D, C.Psych, is our Founder and Child Psychologist. She’s worked in multiple mental health care settings, from hospitals to community care. Dr. Zia founded FFEW to offer therapy to children, adolescents, and parents in the Toronto area. She specializes in anxiety, parenting, behavioural challenges, OCD and a lot more.
Alongside Dr. Zia, we have a talented team of registered psychotherapists, social workers, and clinical therapists. Each of our vetted professionals has a unique specialization, broadening our scope and helping more children and parents, no matter the challenge. We are united by our one goal of helping families thrive. We prioritize emotional well-being, and blend compassion with an evidence-based approach.
We support parents across the full journey –whether you’re guiding a preschooler or launching a young adult. Our approach is rooted in early childhood education, attachment theory, and emotional intelligence. We match our tactics according to child development, prioritizing effective communication and empathy.
“Am I a bad parent?”
This question has crossed the minds of probably every parent on the planet. If your child is having a difficult time, it’s not necessarily because you are a bad parent. At FFEW, we believe that all parents are doing their best, and we can all use a little guidance and support at times
Maybe you never learned the skills of emotional regulation or empathetic parenting yourself. Many of us grew up without it, making it hard to implement when we need to. This is why we provide parent-coach support. The goal is not necessarily teach you how to be a “good parent,” but to show you how to be the supportive, present parent your child needs you to be, today.
What is parent coaching?
Parent coaching is a specialized, goal-oriented, and supportive approach designed to help parents navigate the complexities of raising children. This resource enables parents to reflect on their caregiving role, understand how their reactions impact their child’s emotional development, feel more in control, and enjoy a more harmonious parenting experience. Suitable for parental figures or caregivers.
In short? We look at your emotional well-being & behaviour to ensure you can show up as the best parent for your children.
Parenting plays a critical role in helping children develop emotional regulation skills
The ways parents respond to their children’s emotions and behaviours significantly influence how children learn to regulate their own emotions.
Benefits of Parent Coaching
Improved parent-child relationships
A parenting coach helps parents build better connections with children.
Research suggests that the quality of the parent-child relationship is a critical determinant of mental health outcomes for children and adolescents.
So, at FFEW we start there. We start by teaching parents to be truly attuned to their children. Our ultimate goal for you is to develop a relationship with your child that balances exploration of the world with a safe and secure base where children can seek closeness and comfort.
Improved child emotional regulation
Parent coaching is crucial for building emotional regulation skills in children.
- Understanding Emotions: When we work with parents, we present a clear framework for understanding how emotions function. This gives parents a roadmap for what to do, when to do it, and how to respond most effectively.
- Co-Regulation: Children have much to learn, and need guidance and practice on how to navigate their big emotions. Parent coaching teaches parents how to regulate themselves first, so they can help their children. With tangible tools and strategies, parents learn to stay calm and be effective with their children when intense emotions are present.
Increased parent confidence and competence
Parent coaching empowers parents to make intentional decisions in their parenting approach. By learning the framework we provide, and many different skills and strategies the parenting path becomes more clear. This clarity increases parents’ confidence and competence to navigate the complexities of the ups and downs of childhood and adolescence more effectively.
Parenting can be intentional and fulfilling with a little guidance and practice.
Parent Coaching
OPTION 1
One-on-One Parent
Coaching Sessions
Individual parent coaching involves working one-on-one with a skilled therapist to develop strategies and skills to support the child.
This approach focuses on:
- Teaching parents how to create a safe and secure relationship with your child.
Providing parents with tools and techniques to help their child handle stress, tolerate big emotions, and build confidence and resilience. - Addressing parental barriers to success that may be impacting the child’s treatment progress. Reviewing your parenting style.
- Customizing the coaching to meet the unique needs and circumstances of the entire family.
OPTION 2
Group Therapy
for Parents
We run a number of group therapy programs at FFEW. Group interventions are supportive, informative, effective, and affordable. Participating in a group is a great way to learn a lot of information in a short amount of time and receive a solid foundation for understanding the theory, framework, and skills and strategies that are effective for supporting your child. We offer the following groups at FFEW:
Building Blocks: Parenting for Emotional Health
For Parents with Children Ages 4 months to 5 Years Old
Parenting Emotionally Intense Children – Level 1
For Parents with Children Ages 3 to 12 Years Old
Parenting Emotionally Intense Children – Level 2
For Parents with Children Ages 3 to 12 Years Old
Parenting Children with Anxiety
For Parents with Children Ages 3 to 12 Years Old
Coping With Anxiety
For Children Ages 9 to 12 Years Old
Our unique approach to improving the mental health of your child starts with you
Parents who invest in themselves can significantly influence their child’s social and emotional development. After working with hundreds of families, our experience is that parent coaching as a component of your child or adolescent’s treatment, or as a stand-alone intervention leads to quick and long-lasting change for your child’s ability to regulate their emotions and build resilience.