Why It’s Important for Parents to Access Therapy While Their Child Is in Therapy - Geelong Therapy
When a child begins therapy, the focus is naturally on supporting their emotional wellbeing, development, and confidence. At Nurture Geelong, we often remind families of something equally important:
Children don’t exist in isolation. They grow within relationships.
And the most important relationship in a child’s life is the one they share with their parent or caregiver.
That’s why it can be incredibly beneficial for parents to access therapy alongside their child.
1. Children’s Therapy Often Brings Up Big Feelings for Parents
When your child is struggling — whether emotionally, socially, or developmentally — it can stir up a mix of emotions:
Guilt
Worry
Self-doubt
Grief
Frustration
Exhaustion
Even the most capable and loving parents can find this season overwhelming.
Having your own therapeutic space allows you to process those feelings safely, without placing that emotional weight onto your child.
2. Regulation Starts With Us
Children learn emotional regulation through co-regulation. This means they borrow calm from us before they can create it themselves.
If a child is working on anxiety, big emotions, behavioural challenges, or attachment difficulties in therapy, they will need support at home to practise those skills.
When parents are supported in their own therapy, they often:
Respond instead of react
Feel more confident setting boundaries
Understand their child’s behaviour through a developmental lens
Stay calmer during meltdowns
A regulated adult is the greatest gift to a dysregulated child.
3. Therapy Helps You Break Generational Patterns
Parenting can unintentionally activate our own childhood experiences.
You might notice:
You respond strongly to certain behaviours
You feel triggered by defiance or clinginess
You default to patterns you swore you wouldn’t repeat
Your child’s therapy can become a powerful opportunity for reflection and growth.
Working with your own therapist can help you:
Identify inherited patterns
Understand your attachment style
Develop new tools for connection
Parent more intentionally
This is how cycles shift.
4. It Strengthens the Therapeutic Progress
When parents are supported, children’s therapy outcomes often improve.
Why?
Because therapy doesn’t just happen in the session room. It continues at home, in everyday moments — bedtime routines, school drop-offs, sibling conflicts.
When parents:
Understand the therapeutic goals
Feel emotionally resourced
Have their own support network
Children experience consistency, safety, and reinforced learning.
5. It Models Emotional Health
Children are always watching.
When they see you:
Ask for help
Talk openly about feelings
Prioritise your mental health
Show vulnerability in safe ways
You teach them that seeking support is normal and healthy.
That lesson lasts a lifetime.
6. You Deserve Support Too
Often, parents focus entirely on their child’s needs and forget their own.
But parenting — especially when navigating therapy, diagnoses, or developmental challenges — can be heavy.
You deserve:
A space that’s just for you
Someone to hold your story
Practical strategies
Emotional validation
Time to reflect
Supporting yourself is not selfish. It is sustainable parenting.
A Whole-Family Approach at Nurture Geelong
At Nurture Geelong in Geelong, we believe in a relational, whole-family approach to wellbeing.
When appropriate, we encourage:
Parent sessions alongside child therapy
Collaborative goal setting
Psychoeducation for caregivers
Open communication (within ethical boundaries)
Because when parents feel supported, children thrive.
If Your Child Is in Therapy, Consider Asking Yourself:
How am I coping emotionally right now?
What support do I have?
Is there space for my feelings in this process?
You don’t have to do this alone.
If you’d like to learn more about parent support options at Nurture Geelong, we’d love to connect.