Cai specialises in supporting families overcoming obstacles; including communication issues, loss and trauma, so that they can enjoy a brighter future.
Her mission?:
To Help Parents Support their Children through Adolescence;
so that together we can Build a Mentally Healthier and Happier Generation of Young People.
A stint as a Childline volunteer ( a UK based charity for young people ) inspired Cai to train as a parenting specialist; the stories she heard as she developed more of an understanding of what these children and teens were struggling with, were the motivator to retrain and to support children and their parents through adolescence.
50% of mental health issues start before the age of 14, so how much of this can be remedied by the right support to create the Happy Parent = Happy Child dynamic?
In creating the Peak Parenting framework and The Teen Toolbox™️ series, Cai helps parents reconnect with their children. Her work is about encouraging investment in our children, investment in their future and, ultimately, investment in the next generation.
With so much media support and high profile outlets for peri-natal and early years support, Cai is on a mission to shine a light on teen parenting and to start the open conversations that we are already having around maternity and early stage parenting.
The shame and guilt around parenting can be catastrophic and extends throughout our journey as parents. We are starting to overcome this and be open about the truths of maternity and early stage parenting but we have a long way to go when it comes to parenting through adolescence. Why is it so difficult for us to talk about? Cai understands that much of it comes from the perceived notion that to admit the struggle is to admit to failure as a parent. Cai suggests that we have to be kinder to ourselves as parents.
“The adolescent years are when, in many ways, a child becomes a ‘real person’. They become their own person. Emotions, trauma and confusions are amplified and the parenting game suddenly escalates into a new phase. The goal posts change, the teams switch ends at half time, but we don’t give ourselves the flexibility to change with them. This is when cracks can appear.
We come at parenting with the best intentions but we have no manual for what the job of a lifetime throws at us. At school we are taught algebra, not how to communicate effectively, not self value and self worth and not how to parent and run a family. So, why are we so hard on ourselves when we feel that we aren’t doing well enough?”
Cai is keen to debunk the myths that ‘By asking for help, you are proving that you’re not a good parent’ and ‘by asking for help, you are betraying your child, criticising them and letting them down’. Investing in a business coach is often only ever seen as a positive. Investing in a life coach is a powerful way to move your life forward. Why should investing in a parenting coach be any different?
