Parental Burnout Course for Parents of Neurodivergent Kids
Parenting a neurodivergent kid or child with special needs?
Online, on-demand learning to help you heal burnout and be the parent you want to be.
Parental Burnout & Parenting Children with High Needs for Support
You’re so tired. Emotionally…physically…it’s like you’re swimming upstream all of the time trying to take care of your neurodivergent child and your family. It is just so hard. So impossibly, unfairly, hard. You know that you are at real risk for, or are already struggling with, parental burnout and that you need a break, but you don’t know how to get one.
You Love Your Neurodivergent Child, Even When You Can’t Understand Them
Even when trying to parent them has you shouting or brings you to tears. You want to be the parent that your autistic, ADHD, AuDHD, gifted, 2e, PDA, or otherwise neurodivergent child needs, but you’re not sure that you know how to be that parent. You’re not sure that you have the energy. It’s like a part of you has just shut down and you don’t know how to wake it back up. You’re trudging through the day-to-day; the therapies, school meetings, bureaucracies, and insurance companies; not to mention just trying to get kids fed, to school, to sleep….
In the Most Difficult Moments, You Can’t Recall When Being a Parent Brought You Joy
It hurts because being a loving, supportive, and responsive parent was something that you really wanted; something that was so important to you. The grind is wearing you down. You notice yourself pulling away from your child, your other kids, your partner. It’s like you’re losing yourself. You don’t know how to cope with it all.
Parenting a Neurodivergent Child Has You Feeling So Lost and Isolated
When you think about your friends’ children, social media, or the world around you, it looks like other kids are just going with the flow. Those families seem to have so much fun at dance recitals, summer camp, or graduations; going out to eat; taking vacations. These are things that you can’t even imagine, or when you try them they end in disappointment, meltdowns, or fights. Others make it look so easy.
But it’s not easy, and you're not alone. According to recent data, nearly one in five children in the U.S. have or are at increased risk for a chronic physical, developmental, behavioral, or emotional condition. Nearly one in four homes with children in the U.S. have at least one child with special needs or high support needs such as neurodivergence (1). You never would guess it though based on how alone you feel in all of this; considering how little guidance you’ve been given. It’s like some big shameful secret, but you’re not sure why, and that only leads to more isolation and suffering.
Why aren’t more people talking about how to do this, let alone how to do it well? Parents and caregivers are critical supporters for kids with high needs. So, where is the help that you need for your child, for your family, and for yourself?
Get Expert Guidance to Parent Autistic, ADHD, 2e, Gifted, AuDHD, and Other Neurodivergent Kids Without Burnout
I’m Dr. Corrie Goldberg. I’m a licensed clinical psychologist and licensed school psychologist who completed Ph.D. programs in both fields.
I have provided individual therapy support to countless parents struggling with confusion, stress, overwhelm, and burnout as they try to parent their child or children with high needs such as neurodivergence like autism, ADHD, AuDHD, PDA, learning differences, giftedness, or twice-exceptional (2e) kids; chronic medical conditions; developmental delays; trauma; and other kids whose needs require more support than many of their peers.
My years of experience have mirrored what the research shows. Parents of kids with high support needs are at greater risk for parental burnout. Parents suffering from burnout are more likely to report high levels of stress and anxiety, intense exhaustion, feeling fed up in their parenting role, feelings of guilt, fantasies of escaping their lives, and are more likely to be distant or dysregulated when thinking about or interacting with their kids. None of this helps them feel effective or fulfilled with themselves, their children, or their families.
Adding insult to injury, parents struggling with burnout say that these feelings and behaviors are so different from how they used to be before they became burnt-out parents, and are inconsistent with their values related to parenting. They don’t want to be this way, but they don’t know what to do. I’ve seen how traumatic this can be for parents, children, and families. The impact of this trauma can take a lot of time and work to heal.
You Can be the Parent You Want to Be Without Parental Burnout
It does not have to be this way. Proper information, tools, and support can empower parents of kids with high needs to parent in alignment with their values. Imagine what it would be like to feel confident in recognizing what your child and family need, and to know affirming ways to meet those needs without exhausting your resources, your child, or yourself. How might it feel to support your child through their ups and downs effectively and without suffering? What might it be like to release stress, worry, and overwhelm and feel hope, pride, and joy when you think about your child? If it was possible to be a calmer, less stressed, and better-supported parent, consider what this could mean for your child, your family, and your whole life.
As a therapist for parents with a special needs child or kids with high support needs, I’ve had the honor of helping many motivated, dedicated, and struggling parents recover from burnout and learn better ways to care for themselves, their children, and their families. I’ve seen them safely reconnect with their emotions; feel effective in their work, parenting, and other important relationships; and create lives that they don’t want to escape from.
I want every parent to feel this way, especially parents of neurodivergent kids who have often been ignored, neglected, and marginalized in their parenting; and whose effective support is so critically needed by their children and families.
Get the Expert Help You Need When You Have the Time with Neurodivergent Parental Burnout Courses Online
Helping a neurodivergent child or children navigate through a society and systems that were not built for them takes extra work for parents. I realize that as a result, resources like time, money, and energy can be especially precious for parents of kids with these high support needs. Weekly therapy sessions for parents may not always be accessible, practical, or sufficient with everything else you’re juggling. “Special Needs parents” often prioritize therapies and interventions for their children. They put their own support at the bottom of the list, not realizing that by neglecting their needs, they struggle more and the whole family suffers.
That’s why I’ve been working to develop on-demand, online courses for parents like you. Parents who are fighting for their kids’ well-being and are having a tough time. Parents who want to feel understood, supported, and less alone. Parents who want to learn about burnout and how to avoid common pitfalls. Parents who want better skills to regulate their emotions and behaviors, cope effectively with their stress and challenges, and live in alignment with their values. Parents who need support at a time that works for them; even if that sometimes means watching a short video at 2 a.m. when they can’t sleep, or practicing a new skill in the waiting room of the speech therapist’s office.
Through this Online Neurodivergent Parental Burnout Course You Will Learn:
Why parents of neurodivergent kids are at increased risk for parental burnout
How to recognize critical signs of parental burnout
The essential formula to prevent and cure parental burnout
Polyvagal Theory and the role of the nervous system in parent burnout
How to identify your personal stress activators and nervous system regulators
Healthy and helpful skills to calm and regulate yourself and others
How to identify your key values and use them to heal parent burnout
How to parent neurodivergent kids without parental burnout
Ways to increase life satisfaction and joy
How to create or access a community of support
A Parental Burnout Class Made for You by a Therapist for Parents with Neurodivergent Kids: Currently in Production & Available Soon!
You don’t need one more thing to remember or to follow up on. Click the button below and I’ll notify you when the neurodivergent parent burnout course is available to the public.
If you want to learn more about therapy for parents of kids with high support needs while waiting for the courses to launch, you can find more information about in-office parent counseling Chicago or online parenting therapy available in most states throughout the U.S. here.
“Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs (CYSHCN).” MCHB, mchb.hrsa.gov/programs-impact/focus-areas/children-youth-special-health-care-needs-cyshcn. Accessed 12 Sept. 2023.