Teaser: Understanding your Parental Identity with Parent Coach, Mercedes Samudio

Psychotherapist and parent coach, Mercedes Samudio believes that there should be a framework for parents to refer to while they navigate raising children, which is why she has gone ahead and developed a resource to do just that. During this mini conversation, she tells us about The Parental Identity Development model she has created that asks the question ‘how do you know what kind of parent you want to be?’ through the lens of watching your child grow. She believes that parent shaming occurs because we don’t understand what it means to be a parent, and wants mental health professionals to be a part of the task force that does not continue to perpetuate parental shame. Tune in today to learn more!

Key Points From This Episode:

• The Parental Identity Development model Mercedes has created.
• How it starts with pregnancy and nesting, all the way up until your child becomes a parent.
• Why, as your child becomes a parent, you should be sharing experiences and not fighting.
• Why she created the Parental Identity Development model: there is no manual and there should be one!
• How an identity shift occurs with the introduction of each new child. 
• How mental health professionals can stop the cycle of perpetuating parental shame.
• The biased measuring sticks that we use to judge parents due to a lack of understanding.
• The lack of theoretical models to support parents through identity development.
• Why it is important for a parent to feel competent when they leave a therapist’s office.
• How Mercedes aims to support parents in developing a healthy identity so that they no where to go to when there is no professional support available.

Tweetables:

“If all things go according to plan and you are moving through your identity in a healthy way, by the time your child is of parenting age, [you] should be sharing experiences and not fighting each other.” — Mercedes Samudio [0:00:28]

“There actually isn’t a manual for parenting. The whole reason [that] I created the Parental Identity Development model is [because] there is no manual for parenting, and there should be one.” — Mercedes Samudio [0:00:50]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

 Mercedes Samudio on LinkedIn

Mercedes Samudio on Instagram

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