Welcome to Attachment Matters.
Attachment Matters is a conversation between two mothers who are passionate about the subject of attachment, and how in parenting our children, we are offered the opportunity to grow ourselves up. This presents unique challenges to parents of children, adolescents, and young adults who adopt a transgender identity. Our hope is to offer greater insight into how to strengthen the attachment between parents and their children, despite all odds.
In this episode, Rose describes the fruits of adaptation which include the ability to not erupt into aggression when we don’t get our way. Much of the episode is spent explaining what’s happening when our children are exhibiting attacking energy so we can use the tool of insight to meet the needs of the moment, rather than exacerbating the problem by adding more frustration. Ultimately, the answer to aggression is more adaptation, so we offer ways to support that in between incidents. We touch on grace again—for ourselves, for our children, and for the incredible experience of being human.
Works cited
The construct of maturation & development we cover in Season 2 is drawn from the Neufeld Institute Intensive 1 Course. Here is an Intensive 1 Preview Video (Part 3 of 3) that gives a taste of the experience of taking Intensive 1 as a live online course with Neufeld faculty. It is full of rich and simple take-aways that reinforce what we cover in our episodes!
Questions for reflection
Please share anything that resonated with you from this episode. How can seeing aggression as frustration (something is not working) help how we respond to our child, both in incidents of attacking energy, as well as outside of these incidents? We welcome your thoughts and feedback!
For further reflection
Neufeld’s Traffic Circle of Frustration (23 minutes). A free resource from the Neufeld Institute, this video provides an overview of frustration, aggression and adaptation. Highly recommended!
After recording an episode, we often think of sharing a song with listeners. Here is another song that has helped Rose her find her tears along the way.
A Crooked Road - Darrell Scott (From the album A Crooked Road)
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