D2Counseling

In this video Rev. Daniel Gowan discusses how beautiful growth can be, but takes time to mention the hardships that clients may deal with when expanding their awareness and developing emotionally. 💔

It is easy to feel guilty when we no longer find comfort or safety in relationships that once felt familiar and effortless.

🌱 But everyone grows at a different pace and because of this we end up realizing that a relationship we once viewed as easy may have always contained unhealthy patterns or less functional dynamics that we just didn’t see before.

✨ Growth often brings greater self awareness, healthier boundaries, and a deeper understanding of the relationships that truly support us.✨

🩵 When working with clients we see their ups ⬆️ and downs ⬇️ and the hardships they face
One of the moments we are witness to is when clients come into a higher level of consciousness — and then feel as if they should have achieved this awareness sooner 😢

Thoughts of “Why did it take me THIS long??”

💙 It can be easy to fall into a pattern of blaming ourselves and others for not being aware 😤

Instead, we should take a moment to appreciate the journey that ultimately brought us to a new level of awareness — one that takes us out of living life asleep 😴

🩵 Everyone finds progress at their own pace, we should remind ourselves to allow time for celebration as we explore our individual journeys of growth ✨

Today Rev. Daniel Gowan touches on the third task of parenting: Setting Appropriate Limits 🚦

It can be easy to fall into the extremes of either setting too many limits and not letting children choose, or not setting enough in the hopes they figure out the middle ground.

Healthy parenting creates boundaries that guide without restricting, giving children space to make choices and grow into themselves. 💙

🌳 Today Rev. Daniel Gowan focuses on the task of nurturing. Supporting one’s child as they go through life. Encouraging safety and growth even after a long hard day. 🌱

“I love when you experiment with the colors when you do the crayon.” 🖍️🔴🟠🟡🟢🟢🔵

Or

“When you did the paint by number your creativity was great when you chose to put the blue with the grey.”💙🩶

Nurturing phrases such as this give children the space to reflect on things they have done on their own. Inviting them to continue that growth. 🤩

🩵 Rev. Daniel Gowan touches on the important task of affirming children during development.

It’s not just about what they can achieve but instead about who they are.

✨ Affirm the child, not just the achievement.

When kids only hear praise for what they can do, they can start believing love is something they have to earn.

But when they hear phrases such as:
“The way your mind works is one of my favorite things about you.”

… they learn their worth was never tied to winning. 🥇

This week in our family systems series, Rev. Daniel Gowan will break down the 3 core tasks of parenting: affirm, nurture and set appropriate limits. 🩵🌳🚦

Each one plays a key role in how children grow, connect and make sense of themselves.

🧩 Stay tuned to hear what Rev. Daniel will share about these three tasks and how they help guide children through development.

Rev. Daniel Gowan continues our series on the Family Systems Theory by exploring Pia Mellody’s model of human development and the buckets she believes need to be filled once someone reaches the end of childhood.

What if the buckets aren’t full? That’s the work we have to put in to determine how we might have adapted without full buckets. 🪣🩵

Keep following along as we dive deeper into what full buckets might look like and what to do if ours haven’t been.

Rev. Daniel Gowan touches on a few important books that help teach us about systems and human development. Pushing us to see things through different lens to understand the perspectives of those around us! 🧩

Join us in our new series as Rev. Daniel Gowan shares what made him interested in Family Systems Theory, how the theory helps us understand how we show up and interact within our systems, and what this means for individual growth!