**This is Part 3 of Parenting with Intention; a 3 part-blog series by Aika Erlandson, LMFT-Associate at Austin STRONG: Relationship Building Center** Sometimes, parenting can be a stressful experience. When stress takes over the parenting, your child(ren) are paying very close attention and learning from your behaviors. Children look to their parents for support and modeling in figuring out how to manage emotions, especially when they feel distressed. As a parent, you may not

**This is Part 2 of Parenting with Intention; a 3 part-blog series by Aika Erlandson, LMFT-Associate at Austin STRONG: Relationship Building Center** Tips for Acknowledging your Child’s Emotions As your child learns to walk and talk, they will experience more of life, which also means an increased opportunity to feel more emotions. What your child needs the most from you is to help them figure out what emotions they are experiencing, why they are feeling the way they do, and

"Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings." -William Arthur Ward Sometimes in a long-term relationship, we fall into a routine of “normal”. She makes the coffee in the morning, he makes the bed, She makes the kids’ lunches, he picks them up from school, she cooks the dinner, he helps with homework, she pays the bills, he does the dishes and round and round we go. This is how we get th

"The future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades!" -Timbuk 3 As cheesy as those lyrics are, if you are wanting to make a positive change in your relationship, the first step might be to dig out those old Rose Colored sunglasses. Remember the ones through which you viewed your partner at the beginning stages of your relationship? The hormones rushing around in your brain in the first stage of falling in love help to create those lovely glasses through a potent mix of dopamine, nor

Are you sick of being the couple that is “too much”? Tired of getting dirty looks from passersby as you hold your partner’s hand and kiss in public? Are you so over being asked, “how do you guys do it”? Is being in a good relationship just not where you imagined you would be at this point in your life?? Well, good news for you!! Below are five easy ways to quickly ruin any relationship. Follow the steps below and you will be well on your way to taking the romance and connecti

Every relationship has its’ ups and downs. In the context of romantic relationships, it usually happens that people view times of connection with their partner as “ups”, and times of conflict or disagreements as “down”. Of course every relationship will have its’ moments where the partners don’t agree, or one person needs to express dissatisfaction with the way things are going or the way the other person is doing things. However, the goal of most people in relationships is t