CONNECTION BASED PARENTING THERAPY & INDIVIDUAL THERAPY

IN SEATTLE & WASHINGTON STATE

Do you know who often gets overlooked when talking about parenting? It's parents!

I’m here to change that with solid support for parents.

Two fathers holding a baby up in the air

Parents often read books and take courses to "improve" their parenting, but three weeks after they put the book down, they feel frustrated that they have not been able to create long lasting change in their families.

What’s missing is the support of a professional who can help you work through challenges unique to your family or yourself as an individual facing the good, bad, and ugly of parenthood head on.

I bring my 10 years of experience as a parenting instructor and therapist to provide a judgment-free zone. Through connection based parenting therapy we’ll discuss difficult moments in parenting and learn skills to take care of your kids in a way that builds cooperation along with connection.

Mother helping daughter cook

WHY CONNECTION?

As parents, connection is your superpower.

My mission is to help you use connection rather than control to create the relationships you want with your children.

Without connection, we lose our influence over our kids and over time we lose our parenting power. It can create a cycle of bad behavior that feels impossible to get out of and feelings of frustration and failure rob of us joy.

Through connection based parenting therapy, I’ll teach you strategies and tools you can use in your daily life to help build connection and respect, set and hold clear boundaries, teach self-discipline, and ultimately transform your home environment.

You’ll be equipped to help your children develop secure attachments, which will benefit them through all the ups and downs they will experience, as older kids, adolescents, and adults.

Connection Based Parenting Therapy in Seattle & Washington

Kirsten Jensen Counseling helps you gain insight into the beliefs, patterns, and rules that we each bring to parenting.

With clarity comes the opportunity to incorporate new skills into our parenting and have them stick. Through our work in therapy, parents help children learn to identify and cope with feelings, enhance self-confidence and competence, reduce anxiety about challenging life events, and develop skills to promote appropriate behavior.

The result is often more connection with your kids, more peace in your home, and more confidence as you shape your family culture.

  • Parenting Therapy may be a good fit for you if you’ve experienced challenges related to the following:

    Behavior

    Aggression

    School Life

    Power Struggles

    Sibling Rivalry

    Emotional Regulation

    Family Conflict

    Sleep & Eating Issues

    Health Issues

Lightbulb moments that make parenting more joyful

🤍

Lightbulb moments that make parenting more joyful 🤍

Mother with young daughter walking in a field

Clients often tell me, “Wow, I didn’t realize…

…that discipline means ‘to teach’ and doesn’t mean punishment.”

…how I’ve gotten so busy with life that I don’t play with my kids the way I used to.”

…how much my parenting has been affected by my background.”

…that my child triggers the feelings I have about my mom/dad.”

…that I often ask my child to do what I want, but I rarely do what they want.”

Providing kind and candid support while you do the hard work

🤍

Providing kind and candid support while you do the hard work 🤍

“My sessions with Kirsten have been absolutely transformative for me and my family.

Her insight and expertise were extremely helpful in solving various behavioral issues with my daughter (trouble sleeping, tantrums, and separation anxiety). Kirsten provided me with a solid foundation to connect with my daughter (and along the way, with my husband too!). I received tools to support my daughter through emotional upheavals, as well as ways to communicate with more ease and calm. The strategies she provided solved our issues and brought our family closer, and were fun to implement. Kirsten is a kind, approachable, and non-judgmental therapist and just a great human being, and I cannot speak highly enough of her work!”

– SA

What’s Covered During a Typical Therapy Session?

  • We discuss what’s going on in your family, challenges you're facing with your kids, and create treatment goals, strategies, and practical tools you can use.

  • We explore the family dynamics in the family you grew up in. Who is the uncle nobody talks about? How was money viewed? What were unwritten rules?

  • We relate current dynamics to your personal dynamics from your childhood. We process all the feelings, good and bad, about parenting. Exploring truths is part of the process.

  • We develop strategies to help you build emotional connection and break down defensive barriers with your kids. We talk a lot about the power of connection.

Individual
Therapy for Parents

Individual therapy sessions give you the support you deserve. While being a parent can be an absolute joy, let's face it: parenting can also be incredibly hard.

Parents are not only responsible for meeting children's physical needs, we help our kids develop the social and emotional skills essential to creating good relationships. Individual therapy provides you the opportunity to focus on YOU and to fill your own tank before you get back to helping your child.

We work together to identify, address, and manage your stressors, so you can bring a calmer, and potentially more patient, version of yourself to your family.

  • Individual Therapy may be a good fit for you if you’ve experienced challenges related to the following:

    Anxiety

    Work & Home Life Balance

    Interpersonal Relationships

    Societal Expectations

    Depression

  • "I'm so grateful for the support I received from KJ during my early years of motherhood. I worked with her when my daughter was in day care and pre-school. The parenting "tools" I learned were and continue to be extremely valuable. My daughter is now 13 and we have a strong bond. I believe this bond is in large part due to the support, encouragement and practical tools that I received from KJ. If you are a parent in need of support, I highly recommend that you reach out!"

    – SARAH

  • "KJ is a thoughtful, straightforward counselor who has an exceptional ability to make connections and draw out important behaviors and patterns. She has a wide range of professional abilities and not only provides practical advice but is really good at supporting the deeper work that's necessary for making lasting change."

    – LESLIE

Interested in learning more about how connection based parenting therapy can help you have more joyful home and parenting experience?