Limit-Setting in Parenting Young Children
-Written by Annalise Lind, LPCA
As any parent of a toddler will tell you, parenting young children is not for the faint of heart. Discipline often feels overwhelming. It can feel impossible to regulate your own emotions while also assisting your young child in regulating their own. Throughout my therapeutic work with both adults and children, I’ve noticed a struggle to set limits while maintaining emotional connection with the child. Garry Landreth, founder of the Center for Play Therapy, in his video entitled “Choices, Cookies, and Kids,”outlines a model for setting limits while maintaining emotional attunement. The “A.C.T” model provides three helpful tools for limit-setting.
___________¹Landreth, G. (1996). Choices, cookies, and kids: A creative approach to discipline. Denton, TX; Center for Play Therapy.
²Children’s social and emotional development starts with co-regulation. NICHQ. (2019, April 24). https://www.nichq.org/insight/childrens-social-and-emotional-development-starts-co-regulation
³What are mirror neurons? these brain cells can help your students learn empathy. PETA. (2022, November 30). https://www.peta.org/teachkind/humane-classroom/mirror-neurons- and-teaching-empathy/#:~:text=These%20neurons%20help%20us%20instinctively,and%20then%20subsequently%20show%20empathy.
⁴Setting limits: The A.C.T method. Child & Family Development. (2021, September 3). https://www.childandfamilydevelopment.com/blog/setting-limits-the-a-c-t-method/