Work With Me
If you are ready to build healthy relationships with those you love, if you are ready to reclaim the life you’ve hoped for, I’m here to help. Let me support you and be your guide. You don’t have to live in my hometown to work with me; I help teens, young adults and moms from all over the world with individual coaching and group programs over zoom. I also see clients in my private practice in Houston, Texas. I’ve created multiple ways to serve you and your family. If you still have questions or need help you can contact me and I’ll help determine the best way to meet your needs.
Power Your Parenting® Program
Do you have a tween or teen? Are you tired of the conflict, stress and worry? Do you want to be prepared for the teenage years? Then this program is for you. My Power Your Parenting®Program is a field-tested system that has changed the lives of hundreds of moms from all over the world. This holistic approach teaches you how to dial down the drama, reconnect with your teen, and reclaim your life.
This seven-week program delivers a life-changing, inspirational, and practical message directly to your inbox for forty-nine days. It also gives you the structure and accountability you need to get out of living reactively so that you form new healthy patterns and create the life you want. The program starts with an assessment in order to get to know you and your teen. Each week you will have a Monday check-in where you will be able to identify—and celebrate—new insights, aha! moments, and breakthroughs.
But the best part of the program are the weekly meetings with a small group of moms who are also in the trenches with their teens. You’ll meet on zoom with other like-minded moms, and receive individual coaching from me. You will see real change each week and be validated, encouraged, and energized by the other like-minded moms. Empowered with proactive strategies for parenting and life, you’ll experience new interactions with your son or daughter and have a renewed gratitude for your life. You’ll be amazed at how different your life can be in just seven weeks.
Dial Up the Dream Book Club Plus
Do you have a son or daughter in their late teens to mid-twenties, then Dial Up the Dream Book Club PLUS is the program you want. Parenting these emerging young adults may be the most important mothering you will do. Your daughter is learning how to manage her life on her own and she is not going to do that seamlessly. This is because the brain is not fully developed till age twenty-five. Though your daughter is considered an adult at age eighteen there is a Maturity Gap. This is why these are confusing years for moms.
- What does it mean to let go?
- How can I stay close to my daughter when she seems so disinterested in me?
- What should I expect?
- What’s my role?
- How can I positively influence my daughter when she is out of the home?
- What do I do with all of these intense feelings now that my daughter is not at home? How can I dial down my worry and stress?
This is a six-week online program for an intimate group of moms. We meet every week on zoom and learn how to apply the principles from my bestselling book, Dial Up the Dream: Make Your Daughter’s Journey to Adulthood the Best—For Both of You.
But it’s more than a book club. You will also receive individualized coaching each week in your group call with like-minded moms. You will be able to try out new strategies and apply them to your life and have my support while doing it. This program is guaranteed to bring you peace, clarity and a better relationship with your emerging young adult.
Mom Coaching
As you know mothering doesn’t come with a manual. But getting Mom Coaching is the best next thing. If you are stuck in negative interactions with your teen. If drama has taken over your home. If your approach with your teen isn’t working. If you’re not sure about boundaries and guidelines with the phone, car, or curfew. If your teen treats you like their personal assistant and your tired of not being appreciated. If you want to know what was my teen thinking and understand what is really going on in that teenage brain of theirs. If you are worried that your teen is not progressing as they should socially, or academically. If you’re not sure they’re going to turn out okay. Then you can benefit from Mom Coaching.
A typical mistake that moms make is to send their teen to therapy but not get any coaching and support for themselves. It’s great your teen is getting therapy, but how about you get some more tools in your tool belt. I am definitely not saying you are the problem but parenting teens can be difficult. Moms get worn out, stuck in resentment and discouraged. I want you to know you don’t have to do this alone, let me guide you. I have spent over 50,000 hours listening to families. Sometimes you need a new set of eyes and a fresh approach with your teen.
Remember mom the most important way you help your teen or young adult is to be the model that you want them to become. It’s time to invest in yourself.
Psychotherapy/Coaching
For those in the Houston area I work with a limited number of clients in my private practice. I was trained in marriage and family therapy and I am a licensed professional counselor, and life coach. I work with teens, young adults, women in transition, moms and daughters, couples, and families. I integrate family system theory, solution focused therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, attachment theory, and interpersonal neuroscience. In other words, I integrate a lot of therapy styles including a coaching model to help you heal your relationships, uncover your true purpose in life, create more happiness, and move to a place of inner peace.
After twenty-seven plus years of helping clients transform their lives here’s what I know . . .
You can change your life. It’s not too late! You don’t need to suffer any longer. Your past does not need to dictate your future. Now is the best time to discover the awesome possibilities for your life. If you feel stuck and nothing seems to work, then you can really benefit from my services now.
You can change how you think. Did you know that scientists have found that a majority of our thoughts are negative and automatic? Often times we are not aware of how these negative thoughts drive our life and create our reality. The problem is that these unhelpful thoughts take us to unwanted destinations. To develop new mindsets, it’s advantageous to have a mentor who can help you identify these automatic and obsessive thoughts in order to develop fresh new ways to think about your life. It’s time to move past shame, disappointment, heartache, past trauma and open a space for new healing experiences and a whole new outlook.
You can change your relationships. Relationships are the greatest gifts in our life, and can be the source of our deepest pain. Lots of people get caught in damaging and reactive patterns of communication. Others grow cold and distant. You don’t need to settle. I can help you get the clarity needed to set appropriate boundaries and establish healthy, loving interactions with your friends, family, spouses, and children.
My private practice is located at 4010 Blue Bonnet, Suite 200, Houston, TX 77025. You can contact me at colleen@dialdownthedrama.com, or call me at 713-408-6112.
I learned that I need to take care of myself so I can have the energy to create a relationship with my daughter, not just constantly react to whatever was going on at the moment. I learned a technique that INSTANTLY defused an escalating situation with my daughter - at first I thought it was a fluke - but it has worked EVERY time I have used it! I'm finding I want to spend time with my daughter and that she is actually reaching out to me in ways I never thought would happen. One of the biggest gifts I got from Power Your Parenting was about half way through the program - my daughter is not a hugger or a kisser and rarely expresses emotion (other than anger), but one day she left the house, and actually came back in, gave me a hug and kiss AND told me she loved me. I honestly believe that would have never been possible without Colleen's Program.
Her pulling away this year and our lack of closeness made me want to hold onto the relationship that was...but it was no longer. I felt saddened, I tried too hard, asked too many questions and persisted despite my daughter's reluctance, moodiness, and annoyance. Colleen helped me recognize that I needed a new approach. No one person can fill one's psychic space, nor should they, especially one's child. My daily work for over a month was to ask myself the following questions: How can I fill up my cup instead of expecting my daughter or someone else to fill it? What will make me happy today? What is my heart longing to do today? What are my blessings? What do I want to let go of? What no longer works for me? Depending upon the day, I might focus on an art outing. I might go to a museum or take in a special foreign film series with a friend. I might go to a nature preserve and take a long walk with my dog and a friend. Or I might cuddle up on my sofa and read novel after novel on my Kindle! Instead of seeking out my daughter's company to fill me up, I filled my own cup with activities and people that spoke to my heart. And then when my daughter and I did get together I could be available to her if she wanted to talk or be accepting of her if she wanted space. While there are always issues with teen girls, when a new one arises with my daughter, I am able to take a step back and look at the situation more objectively! I am able to sit down with my husband and discuss what we want for her to learn. Then we can figure out a reasonable approach. I am better able to set clear boundaries, reasonable consequences and stick to them. As a result of the changes that I have made to focus on my own life, my daughter and I share more laughter and fun connections because I was no longer looking to her to fill me up.
We had read all the books about child discipline and we even saw a family therapist with our son, but nothing seemed to help. I knew Colleen's course was geared toward teen-age daughters, and with an 11 year old daughter I thought perhaps it could help there also. I have to say within the first week I noticed a big change. Colleen's approach is so different from anything I've ever tried. In the first few weeks her class focused on my needs, and acknowledged the crazy life Mom's can have. Wow, I thought, Colleen understands me. There were times when I just cried with relief. I began immediately to take better care of myself and my son became easier to manage. That was an "aha" moment for me. Then, her lessons started to focus on the teenage mind and how it works. She is so on top of the leading studies about adolescence I felt like I had an expert working just for me. Her weekly group calls were great also because she helped me with specific issues I was having. In the end, my relationship with my son has never been better. I have learned not to take things so personally and I have learned to set boundaries we can both live with. The other day we were driving to school, and I looked over to see him with tears in his eyes. I asked him what was wrong, he said, "I love you Mom and I don't know what I would ever do without you." Colleen's wonderful program made this moment possible.
I realize now my own self-care is a mandatory part of being a parent. I also realized I am modeling something very important for my girls by taking care of myself, I have acquired new skill sets from Colleen in dealing with my two teenage daughters. I have stopped being in reaction mode. In the past if I heard my daughter say something I didn't like, I would have jumped in and reacted in the moment. Also, they need to trust that I won't overreact if I hear something I don't like. I realize now that there are golden moments when it's good to inject some wisdom into my girls, and they will be receptive to me.
How pitifully low were my expectations? Why would I only want to "survive" the next few years of my life? Colleen taught me that I owed it to myself, my daughter, and my entire family to thrive not survive. Being a joyful, strong, loving mother, who is clear about her own wants and needs, became my battle cry. I learned to live intentionally, not reactively and that's when our relationship began to change significantly. It turns out that I didn't need to fix my "sassy" daughter. I needed to rediscover myself and take conscience action. This revelation has enabled me to parent with passion and lose the drama, guilt, and fear. The Power Your Parenting Program is truly life-changing not only for me but for my relationship with my daughter.
After participating in the program, I have a much clearer idea of what I want to do with life Just making myself think about what I want and what makes ME happy is a huge gift. Being happy makes me a better parent. I'm able to accept my child for all her gifts and her challenges, without raising my voice or compromising our relationship. I'm able to enjoy my life and consequently, the people around me are enjoying it, too. Recently, I related to my husband that the program was near it's he jumped in with "you know you're a different person than when you started.
It was hard to keep up with my life as wife, mother of 13 year old triplets, and a career I am passionate about. Because of your program I have learned that taking care of myself is not selfish, but crucial for me and my family. I am a better mother and the benefits of taking care of me overflow to my family. Because when I am whole I can love and serve better! In the past I have been discouraged with not seeing things change at home. I have learned that I can make changes in small increments. I am encouraged because I know now that I am going in the right direction. I used to get down on myself and my kids, because they weren't perfect. Now I know all kids are imperfect. I accept my kids and know they are imperfect, but wonderful. I focus on their good qualities and enjoy them more.. Thanks from the depths of my heart for your ministry! It has really helped me!!
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