A therapist is revealing the 10 things parents should do to create a “safe” relationship between parent and child. Jessica MacNair, who has more than 20 years experience as a therapist, shares her parenting advice on TikTok and says she follows it with her own sons, ages 10 and 13.
According to Jessica, it’s important to foster a “safe” relationship with your kids and to create a “secure attachment style” to help avoid issues later in life, like addiction, relationship troubles and difficulty holding onto jobs. “A lot of the reason adults end up in therapy is because parents didn’t create this safe space for their child and the trust isn’t there,” the therapist explains.
Jessica MacNair’s top healthy parenting tips to build a “safe” relationship:
- Ask your children for permission if you want to give them a hug.
- Never talk about finances in front of your kids.
- Don’t judge your children for their sexuality, gender or feelings around sexuality.
- Don’t comment on your child’s body type.
- Teach kids NOT to trust authority figures automatically, as respect has to be earned.
- Don’t use fear as a motivational tool.
- Don’t judge your kids on their grades at school.
- Don’t use food as a reward or a punishment.
- Don’t compare your kids to each other or expect one to act like their sibling.
- Allow kids to express any emotion they want big or small and don’t judge them for how they express themselves.