By Saleem Rana
Interview by Allen Cardoza
September 10, 2012
Lisa Smith, founder of Save My Family Today, a family counseling program, spoke to Allen Cardoza from Answers for the Family on his weekly L.A. Talk Radio show about all the psychological and sociological issues that arose when overprotective parents were willing to do anything and everything within their power for the happiness of their children.
Lisa Smith
Allen introduced Lisa as an accredited counselor with a Master’s degree who has worked for more than 18 years with families to heal their relationships. Her business, Save My Family Today, is an in-home family coaching program located in Los Angeles and Orange County. Lisa also provides telephone coaching for parents across the United States, as well as teaches parenting classes in her local community.
Parenting Exaggerated
“Parenting exaggerated” is a term coined by Lisa to describe parents who went overboard to shield their children from all pain and inconveniences. These parents were prone to actively intervene with teachers and other authority figures that upset their children in any way. By saving their children from the consequences of their own actions, these parents were overstepping their role as guides. This over protectiveness response created irresponsible children.
Family Coaching
Lisa helps heal family relationships. She helps parents understand the destructive consequences of their “savior” role and she helps teens to realize the benefits of structure.
In her coaching work with clients, she suggests that parents develop a kind consistency when reinforcing consequences and model the type of behavior they would like their children to show. Parents need to be loving and accountable while staying firm about the consequences of breaking family rules. Parents should also make it clear that they are willing to call in a “professional backup” if their children flaunt rules about drug and alcohol abuse.
Success Story
Lisa shared a success story about a family that had a son who had a substance abuse problem and whose parents struggled to implement the consequences. By coaching the parents to stick to a kind consistency, the young man began to respect them for enforcing the consequences of his rule breaking. Many years later, when he was in his twenties, he wrote home to thank his parents for imposing structure.
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Learn more about the remarkable work by <a href=”http://answersforthefamily.com”>”Save My Family Today”</a>. Stop by visit Allen Cardoza’s site to listen to the full interview with <a href=” http://answersforthefamily.com/when-parents-go-too-far-for-their-teen//”>Lisa Smith</a>.
