Are your kids intense?  Sensitive? Do you sometimes wonder if your parenting really aligns with your values?

In the Third Factor Parents’ Circle, you can come together with others who get it.  Members of this group aim to better understand both our children’s intensities and our own.  We explore how the two can compound each other, bringing our positive maladjustment into stark focus—and sometimes our negative maladjustment, too. We’ve been through the fire with our children and have hard-won lessons to share about rising from the ashes. Our goal is to grow as humans in the process of raising our children, learning alongside them as they mature.

What We Do Together

The Parents’ Circle is an unstructured space for parents to discuss the following sorts of questions, to give just a few examples:

• Share everyday ups and downs and the relevant situational context
• Discuss emotional regulation, what it looks like, and how can it be passed on to our intense, sensitive children
• Explore your birth as a parent, both literally and metaphorically, in the context of positive disintegration and reintegration
• Compare notes about the options for schooling, including unconventional choices, and the ways we grow as parents through the struggle to meet our children’s needs
• Talk to others who will understand when your expectations crumble and you experience a paradigm shift in your child-rearing philosophy
• Share insights that have helped you raise your children in a way that nurtures the best in human nature, and discuss how the youngest humans in our lives can help us understand the experience of being human

Membership Requirements

You must belong to Third Factor at the Community Member tier to be considered for membership in this small group. You can sign up here, or if you’re already a Subscriber, go to the Subscriptions menu in your account to upgrade to the next tier.

Once you’re a member, you can log in to the Third Factor forum, send a DM to Rachel or Sandra to be added to the group.

The only additional requirement is that you must be a parent (biological, foster, or adoptive). Please note that if your children are grown and flown, you haven’t stopped being a parent! Sometimes hindsight is 20/20; other times, examining your personal history in new lights can lead to healing and integration.

If you need help or have any questions, you can contact our team, and we’ll get your message to the group leaders.