Terms of Use 

Thank you for visiting Hey Sigmund. I love that you are here and hope you will find plenty of useful information. I hope that you stay a while and that you will come back again – hopefully many ‘agains’. To make sure we’re all kept safe, there are some rules. Nothing unusual or dramatic, but best that we all know where we stand.

What You Agree To In Using This Website

Your use of this website means that you agree to the following terms of use.

What This Website Is – And Isn’t 

The articles, information and comments on this website provide general information only and do not constitute advice in any way.

It is important to me that the information provided on this site is thoughtful, detailed, well-researched and relevant, but it is just a guide. What is best for you will depend on your personal history and circumstances. For this reason, if you require more support, information or guidance in relation to a particular issue, please speak with a medical practitioner or counsellor who will be able to take the time to understand the detail of you, your history and your circumstances, and use this to advise you on the most effective course of action.

If you are in need of more immediate support, please click here.

Just to be clear … 

You must not use this website or any information, articles, images or anything in connection to this website for anything that breaks the law.

Intellectual Property

The design, information and articles on this website are subject to copyright owned by Karen Young, or used under licence from a third party. As such the design, information and articles are protected by international copyright laws. 

Content Share Guidelines

Here at Hey Sigmund, we love you sharing our work as much as we love you reading it.  Just a few things to keep in mind:

•  You are welcome to share links to any content contained in Hey Sigmund. The truth is, we’ll love you for it.

•  You are welcome to quote up to 75 words of content from any article in your own blog articles as long as you attribute ownership. Attribute Karen Young and www.heysigmund.com as the source and please create a link to the original Hey Sigmund article you are referencing.

•  Unless you obtain our prior written consent (which we may grant in exceptional circumstances) the republication or reprinting of full or substantial sections of any articles in form or word for word on the web is not permitted, even if you provide full credit and links back to us. 

•  You are not permitted to profit from the use of our content.

•  This one goes without saying but since we’re talking anyway … you cannot claim our content as your own original ideas.

•  If you are wanting to print hard copies other than for personal use, please contact us for consent (which will never be withheld for a good cause). 

Email Communication

When you subscribe to our newsletter by entering your email address through the newsletter sign-up on the website or through the newsletter pop-up that may appear on the website, you will be added to our mailing list. We will never spam you and we will never provide your details to anyone else. You can unsubscribe from this list at any time.

Third Party Links

This website contains links to other websites which are not under our control. Because of this, we are not responsible for the content or working of those sites. If external links are used on this site, we would typically approve of the content of those links but we do not take any responsibility for any part of those websites, nor do we endorse or provide any warranty in relation to those websites and the content they contain. The links may not remain current and as they are outside of our control, your use of them is at your own risk.

Privacy Policy

For full details of our privacy policy, please see here.

Indemnity

We rely on you to abide by these terms of use. If you do not comply with these terms of use and we suffer any loss or damage or incur any costs as a result of your non-compliance, you agree to indemnify us for those losses, damages and costs. You also agree to indemnify us from and against all actions, claims, suits, demands, damages, liabilities, costs or expenses that arise out of your use of the website.

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♥️

#parenting #parentingwithrespect #parent #mindfulparenting
Some days are keepers. Thank you Perth for your warmth and wide open arms at the @resilientkidsconference. Gosh I loved today with you so much. Thank you for sharing your stories with me, laughing with me, and joining with us in building brave in the young people in our lives. They are in strong, beautiful hands.

And then there is you @michellemitchell.author, @maggiedentauthor, @drjustincoulson, @nathandubsywant - you multiply the joy of days like today.♥️
When you can’t cut out (their worries), add in (what they need for felt safety). 

Rather than focusing on what we need them to do, shift the focus to what we can do. Make the environment as safe as we can (add in another safe adult), and have so much certainty that they can do this, they can borrow what they need and wrap it around themselves again and again and again.

You already do this when they have to do things that don’t want to do, but which you know are important - brushing their teeth, going to the dentist, not eating ice cream for dinner (too often). The key for living bravely is to also recognise that so many of the things that drive anxiety are equally important. 

We also need to ask, as their important adults - ‘Is this scary safe or scary dangerous?’ ‘Do I move them forward into this or protect them from it?’♥️
The need to feel connected to, and seen by our people is instinctive. 

THE FIX: Add in micro-connections to let them feel you seeing them, loving them, connecting with them, enjoying them:

‘I love being your mum.’
‘I love being your dad.’
‘I missed you today.’
‘I can’t wait to hang out with you at bedtime 
and read a story together.’

Or smiling at them, playing with them, 
sharing something funny, noticing something about them, ‘remembering when...’ with them.

And our adult loves need the same, as we need the same from them.♥️
Our kids need the same thing we do: to feel safe and loved through all feelings not just the convenient ones.

Gosh it’s hard though. I’ve never lost my (thinking) mind as much at anyone as I have with the people I love most in this world.

We’re human, not bricks, and even though we’re parents we still feel it big sometimes. Sometimes these feelings make it hard for us to be the people we want to be for our loves.

That’s the truth of it, and that’s the duality of being a parent. We love and we fury. We want to connect and we want to pull away. We hold it all together and sometimes we can’t.

None of this is about perfection. It’s about being human, and the best humans feel, argue, fight, reconnect, own our ‘stuff’. We keep working on growing and being more of our everythingness, just in kinder ways.

If we get it wrong, which we will, that’s okay. What’s important is the repair - as soon as we can and not selling it as their fault. Our reaction is our responsibility, not theirs. This might sound like, ‘I’m really sorry I yelled. You didn’t deserve that. I really want to hear what you have to say. Can we try again?’

Of course, none of this means ‘no boundaries’. What it means is adding warmth to the boundary. One without the other will feel unsafe - for them, us, and others.

This means making sure that we’ve claimed responsibility- the ability to respond to what’s happening. It doesn’t mean blame. It means recognising that when a young person is feeling big, they don’t have the resources to lead out of the turmoil, so we have to lead them out - not push them out.

Rather than focusing on what we want them to do, shift the focus to what we can do to bring felt safety and calm back into the space.

THEN when they’re calm talk about what’s happened, the repair, and what to do next time.

Discipline means ‘to teach’, not to punish. They will learn best when they are connected to you. Maybe there is a need for consequences, but these must be about repair and restoration. Punishment is pointless, harmful, and outdated.

Hold the boundary, add warmth. Don’t ask them to do WHEN they can’t do. Wait until they can hear you and work on what’s needed. There’s no hurry.♥️

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