Tuesday 9 August 2016

Troy Van Sickle - Three Methods to Build Strong Family Bonds

Troy Van Sickle, an entrepreneur based in Palm Springs, California, is devoted to helping families become closer and happier. As a father of five, he has had numerous opportunities over many years to see what works and what doesn’t when you want to create a tight family unit with your children. He recommends taking the following techniques into account with your own kids to support strong, healthy relationships between adults and their kids.

Help your children become good communicators. Strong families know how to work problems out together, and that necessitates effective communication skills. Communication must be built upon the premises of trust and honesty. While being able to speak kindly and respectfully to another is key, being able to actively listen is equally necessary.

Close bonds between kids and adults can be built when they spend a lot of quality time together. This can simply mean watching a football game together or having weekly family game and movie nights. The activity is not all that important, but the consistency is paramount. Families that spend time together learn how to function as a unified team and eliminate alienation.

Strong parent/child relationships are predicated on their ability to problem solve together and manage stress. Families who can work together when times are difficult to support each other creates positive experiences where both children and adults feel needed and valued for their insights.

Troy Van Sickle lives in Palm Springs, California. He is the owner of the Van Sickle Group, a consulting firm serving businesses in the real estate and trucking industries.

Sources:
​http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/publications/1229-strengthening-family-relationships

Wednesday 3 August 2016

Troy Van Sickle - Helping Children Process Divorce

As a divorced parent, Troy Van Sickle knows that helping children through the process in an emotionally intelligent manner helps kids become happier and more secure adults later on. Though it can be challenging for the entire family, there are a number of techniques and tactics that parents can use to ensure that children are able to process emotions in a safe and healthy way.
  • Encourage your children to speak openly and honestly about what they’re feeling and experiencing. Many kids will internalize a divorce as a fault of their own and can have difficulty expressing it. Provide them with lots of opportunities to verbalize these inner thoughts in a judgement-free manner. Let them know that their feelings matter.
  • Keep personal details that shed a negative light on the other parent to yourself. Children in many cases aren’t meant to feel like they should take sides, but speaking badly about their parent naturally puts a pressure on kids to decide what is correct and what’s incorrect. The most important thing is that they know they are loved by both parents. All legal conversations should take place without the children present.
  • Try to avoid any disruptions to your children’s daily routines. Drastic changes in every realm of life are scary and confusing for kids. The more stability, the better. Some parents have even gone so far to let the kids stay in the same home while the parents rotate their schedules and seek out new housing.
Troy Van Sickle owns a consulting firm in Palm Springs, California.

Sources: ​http://kidshealth.org/en/parents/help-child-divorce.html