Today, psychologists are talking more about how we are with our children than what we are doing to them. We parent through interaction, through modeling, through being in the alive, connected, and affect-laden moment with our children. Parenting is a team effort, and while the parents are the leaders of that team, we need to create buy-in from all members to move forward and succeed as a family.

Who we are speaks louder than what we say. We tell our children who we want them to be by how we are; by how we think, talk, empathize, and behave in our own lives. Passing down pain is natural and inevitable. Passing down joy, resilience, and strength is also natural. We stop passing down pain and dysfunction by examining our own pasts and by understanding what from our past relationships, we may be recreating in our present relationships.

Confusing our own inner child with the child we’re parenting is a common outgrowth of living with the kind of dysfunction that can become intergenerational. That dysfunction can be the result of addiction or other issues within the family. In the 1950s, as the idea of recovery became more known, we thought that if we could get the addicted person sober, the rest of the family would automatically be fine — everyone would go back to normal. As the field matured, we discovered that this is anything but the case. Family members who have lived with addiction or other dysfunction have also lived with relational trauma. If that hurt remains unaddressed, it impacts our ability to parent in healthy ways and to thrive as a family.

Changing the legacy is not only possible but probable if we’re willing to invest the kind of time and effort it takes to examine our inner world and our capacity for quality intimacy. This weekend workshop can change your life and the lives of those you love.

Cost:
$1,500, which includes

• meals (dinner Friday through lunch Sunday)
• two nights single occupancy room in Bunkhouse or Hacienda lodging
• ground transportation to and from Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport