Individual Consultation

One of our goal is to assist parents, children and families to better understand and cope with their struggles related to issues such as, but not limited to: Autism, Aspergers, Fetal Alcohol and Drug Affected, Borderline Personality Disorder, Conduct Disorder, relational problems, drug and/or alcohol issues, parenting struggles, anxiety, PTSD, intermittent explosive disorder,  etc. Our consultant will provide our clients with support as they gain new understanding and develop and implement new strategies, interventions, skills and tools in working with these issues. Our aspiration is to help the families that we serve grow closer together, while helping the individual to understand how the strengths and limitations of his/her diagnosis can be used in positive ways to help him/her become a more independent being, both at home and in his/her community.

A second goal of our consultant is to aid parents with effective parenting, changing  challenging behaviors, encouraging positive behaviors and strengthening the parent-child  relationship. An important feature of our program is that parents play a key role as they learn  new behavior management strategies and begin implementing them in their home, school and community. Plans are created in accordance to the needs of the  child and family as our  consultant understands that each family and child is unique and has their own way of being  in and interacting with the world around them.

Our consultants, who are not employees of DHS, have extensive  experience in not only working with foster and/or proctor homes, but in special education rooms, treatment centers, skills training, and counseling  settings.  This gives our consultants the unique  advantage of having experience, knowledge, and understanding in a variety of environments that many foster and proctor children have been through or are currently in.   In addiction, our consultants have a combined experience of 50 years of operating within: the social  service, school, DHS, and court system.  All of their experiences make them a valuable resources to  understanding and meandering this very complex and multidimensional system.  Our consultants enjoy being an on-going resource for foster and proctor families.   

They have experience with families in working with: parenting techniques, token economics, educating families in techniques that work best with different diagnosis, and assisting homes in developing effective strategies in helping foster/proctor homes integrate children within the home and school environment.

Working in group homes and treatment centers can be a very rewarding process.  It is some of the most challenging and demanding work out there.  But it can also be some of the most fulfilling work.  Both kids and adults utilize unique venues; however, there is also a high rate of staff turnover, especially in adolescent and child group homes and centers.  Our consults have worked a portion of their careers in just these types of environments and place a high emphasis on verbal interventions, behavioral management, education, improving environments, and introducing new techniques.  Our philosophy is to learn about your environment and clients while looking for the best techniques to fit your situations.

Our consults are also experienced in providing training which focus on using verbal interventions.  We specialize in helping employees find new ways of managing behavior through avoiding power struggles, individualizing interactions within the facilities structure, using the structure as a tool, using techniques within the milieu, incorporating token economics that work, and operation as an effective team to name a few.  We use a combined format of: lecture, group activities, online, and self-study.  The formats depend on whether you have our consultants provide short, medium, or long term training.  Our goal is to deepen the tools and skills of staff as a way of improving their interactions with clients which in turn can bring about new growth in clients.

The surface of parenting has changed today from what it was decades ago for a variety of reasons.  What hasn’t changed is the general needs human beings have and if those needs are not met when children are growing, then parents can begin to look to their children to fulfill those unmet needs in childhood.  For instance, one of the largest needs of a human being is to have a sense of belonging.  If a child does not feel that sense of belonging growing up, they may unconsciously seek it through being their children’s best friend or the parent may find themselves needing to “feel” continually liked by their children.  The problem is that parenting involves both roles of a parent being the “good” and “bad guy”.  Parents have to have the understanding that being a parent is far different than any other role a child will ever experience and the blood bond connection is one of the deepest unconscious tools a parent has on their side.

With parenting comes a variety of challenges.  And some of those challenges may start with parents who do not feel they had the benefit of good parenting themselves growing up.  You may also be facing a difficult developmental stage or you may be attempting to guide your child through their adjustments to family changes.  Kids with complex emotional needs require thoughtful, planned approaches to various difficulties they are facing. Regardless of the situations, our coaches can work with you individually on your parenting or co-parenting.  Sessions can be attended by together with both co-parents and/or individually.  We are also able to customize coaching to best suit the needs of you and your family.

Our consults are also experienced in providing training which focus on using verbal interventions.  We specialize in helping employees find new ways of managing behavior through avoiding power struggles, individualizing interactions within the facilities structure, using the structure as a tool, using techniques within the milieu, incorporating token economics that work, and operation as an effective team to name a few.  We use a combined format of: lecture, group activities, online, and self-study.  The formats depend on whether you have our consultants provide short, medium, or long term training.  Our goal is to deepen the tools and skills of staff as a way of improving their interactions with clients which in turn can bring about new growth in clients.

Even though you and your ex are no longer together, you realize the need to work effectively together in parenting for the well-being of your children.  The problem is: you find yourselves continuing to fall back into the same old communication traps.  The two of you may need systems in place so that co-parenting work can be done.  By both parents meeting together with a coach, you can create the boundaries and practices which will help the two of you work together more productively for the continued growth of your children.

Blended homes of: “Your kids, My Kids, and Our Kids” is a more common face of an American family.  Similar to this are families raising grandchildren, nieces, nephews, etc.  The most common is bringing families together through cohabitation and/or remarriage; however, no matter how the family is established there is a combination of two sets of history, rules, and exceptions.  On top of that foundation you also have kids who are experiencing feelings of resistance towards the parent that is not theirs.  And if there are ex’s involved, you have a whole new uncontrollable dynamic as offer times ex’s are bidding to be the favored parent.  Some kids navigate this easily, while others have a greater sensitivity to the stress of the smallest changes.  Along the same lines, parents and step-parents both can struggle with how to gracefully make all the transitions and challenges blending families can create.  Our coaches can create and customize a plan to assist in meeting the on-going needs of the family.

Whether you are still in college, looking for a job, searching for your dream career move or in transition between jobs, our career consultants can help you identify the steps you need to take and assist you in building a plan to move forward towards them.  Our career coaching process will help you:

• Identify goals.
• Reflect on values, motivations, interests, and skills.
• Assessing your experience, abilities, and talents.
• Identify a variety of different occupational targets, locate needed resources, and sharpen skills.
• Develop a plan for growth and change.
• Have an accountability for achieving your goals.

Our consultants offer both career coaching and career consulting.  During the first session, our professionals will help you identify which one is best for you and your needs.  Here is how we define each of the two categories:

Career Consultants use a variety of different tools and assessments to help in identifying abilities, values, and motives. Through using the assessments, the career consultant will present recommendations for different avenues of change that may assist you in your journey.  They will also help you devise a plan as to how to achieve the changes you decide on.  Our consultants start with what you already have as your strengths and achievements.  Career Consulting may take as few as 1-3 months.

Career Coaches will help you to change, obtain, and achieve their goals in order to reach the level you have envisioned for yourself, but are not yet qualified for.  Career Coaches help you develop a working plan and then supports you as you move forward to reach those goals on your plan.

 Individual Sessions : In today’s world, communication is one of the most effective and  essential skills to make a person successful on the job.  Good communication is not  just essential to being effective on the job but it is also essential in being assertive with customers and co-workers.  Our consultants will gain a picture of the world you would  like to improve your communication in, evaluate who and where you are at as a communicator, and then will assist you in designing a plan to move you toward the communicator you want to be.  We will assist you in mastering a variety of  foundation skills that are proven to work effectively in any work environment.  Skills such as: communications with tact, diplomacy, assertiveness, poise, evaluating a  situation, using listening as an effective tool, techniques to guide people into listening  to you, the art of persuasion.

At times, the challenge is finding a balance between your personal life and your profession life which takes communication on several different levels.  One of the pieces our consultants will look at is how you can better utilize technology to assist  you in meeting these challenges.

 On site: One thing that has not changed in most work places in decades are the levels  and layers of communication at work.  For instance, management has a language an communication of there own.  And so do the employees. One problem is the bridging the gap of communication between the two.  At  the same time, each of these two separate levels also have a mixture of dominate and passive  personalities, as well as,  sub groups.  Add into this that most work places also have cultures of their own. All of these effect productivity, moral, turn over rates, and the bottom line: profit.  Our  consultants will come to your site and bring presentations that can be infused in today’s work force  and culture.

For more information about the consultation services that Empowering Choices Counseling & Consultation offers please contact Erik Denton at: (503) 589-3112.