As a therapist, school counselor, parent educator, clinical supervisor, counselor educator, and consultant Dr. O’Hara has provided parenting support to families for decades. In addition to individual and group counseling, she has trained and facilitated parenting groups in school and agency settings. She appreciates being of service to parents across the many stages of the life span. As a parent herself, she understands the personal experience of parenting.
Perhaps you are new in the role of parent and are proactively seeking support or find that parenting strategies that were effective at one developmental stage or with one child are lacking, or maybe there is conflict, or you find yourself exhausted from life stressors and worry that your child needs more time or attention than you have. You worry about your child’s emotional or mental health struggles, social life (or lack thereof), experimentation or misuse of alcohol or other substances, or other behaviors that seem excessive. Perhaps your child isn’t a child anymore and you find that the parent-child relationship is challenged by this developmental transition.
There is hope and help. Through counseling, parenting patterns are identified and explored. Those that no longer serve the parent and child are replaced with more effective practices and perspectives. Parents are supported and empowered to clearly communicate healthy boundaries as appropriate in a manner that respects the child and supports healthy emotional growth and development. Likewise, parents are encouraged to respect appropriate boundaries set by their children as they individuate and make their own life choices.
Below is a partial list of parenting trainings that Dr. O’Hara has participated in:
Understanding and Responding to Anxiety in Kids: Practical Strategies to Move Children and Caregivers in Positive Directions
Eliminating the Adverse Impact of Alcohol/Drug Use on Children & Families: Supporting Children
Eliminating the Adverse Impact of Alcohol/Drug Use on Children & Families: Facilitating Recovery
Eliminating the Adverse Impact of Alcohol/Drug Use on Children and Families: Why Focus on Children?
There is No Place Like Home: Comprehensive Wraparound Program for Adolescents, Young Adults and Families
Not Your Ordinary Genogram
Physiological and Psychological Functioning of College Students of Alcoholic Parents
Mirror Without a Face: Assessment of Parental Alienation with Divorce
Clinical Implications and Applications of the Adult Attachment Interview
Practical Training in Evidence-Based Practice for Child and Family Mental Health
Minors' Rights to Confidentiality - When Parents Want to Know: An Ethical Scenario
Saturday Psychodrama Workshop: Our Parents' Legacy
Play Therapy and Parent Consultation: A Review of Best Practices
Presentation to PTSA on College Admission Testing
Facilitated 12-hour P.E.S.A. Parenting Training Groups
Eating Disorders Workshop - Parenting Conference
Facilitator Training - Parent Expectations Support Achievement (P.E.S.A.)
Eating Disorders Workshop - Parenting Conference V
Spring Parent Workshop Series
Eating Disorders Workshop - Parenting Conference IV
Eating Disorders Workshop - Parenting Conference III
Eating Disorders Workshop - Parenting Conference II
Eating Disorders Workshop - Parenting Conference I
Mothers, Babies and Addictions
Families in Crisis: Strategies for Intervention