Teaching Children to Be Honest
Deborah Groening-Rother, PsyD
Teaching children to be honest about their thoughts and emotions promotes safety in the sharing of feelings. WBC’s Services Coordinator, family therapist, and Mindful Parenting Lead Facilitator, Sasha Hawkes, says, “If we provide an honest environment for our children – meaning they have a space where they know that they can openly share their thoughts and feelings, they will internalize the notion that they are neither good nor bad but just moving through an experience that will pass.”
The mindfulness exercises and reflective practices taught in our Loving Discipline Workshop will give you key communication skills that will build a solid foundation for your children. By teaching them to control their tempers and outbursts with you now, they will learn to control their reactions with others as they grow older. “We should show our children that we are not perfect and that we too experience scary, sad, frustrated feelings at times. We can model how to move through these feelings in a healthy and mindful way by being honest and transparent about them and how we handle them. This promotes healthy self-esteem, growth, and independence,” encourages Sasha.