Workshops for parents navigating the moments that feel hardest to talk about — built on research, not guesswork, and taught by a family mediator who does this work every day.
Your kid isn't bad. Their behavior is communication. And what it's usually saying is: I need you — just differently than before. Parents of teenagers often arrive at this stage feeling like they're failing — their child is refusing school, pushing back on everything, and shutting down every conversation. This workshop reframes the whole picture. Drawing on the work of Lisa Damour, John Gottman, Brené Brown, and Mel Robbins, it gives parents the developmental context, the emotional tools, and the practical skills to stop fighting their teenager and start understanding them.
Offered periodically online (Zoom) and in person.
Are you tired of being the family referee? When sibling conflict erupts, most parents feel forced to pick a side or hand out a consequence, only for the same fight to happen again ten minutes later. By trading the "whistle" for a mediator's chair, you can move beyond policing and toward empowering your children to solve their own disputes. In this introductory workshop, Laura Lorber, J.D. — a family mediator and PITC Fellow — will help you understand the fundamental difference between being a mediator and a referee, and why strengthening your own emotional intelligence is key to making that shift. You'll walk away with a developmental framework for understanding rivalry and practical communication tools to help you stay grounded when the yelling starts.
Anxiety isn't a thinking problem. It's a body that doesn't know how to turn off. Most of us try to manage stress and anxiety in our minds — analyzing it, reasoning with it, willing it away. It doesn't work. What's actually happening is that your fight-or-flight response has been triggered, flooding your body with stress hormones that have nowhere to go. This workshop gives them somewhere to go. Through guided movement, breathwork, and simple daily practices, participants will experience — not just learn about — what it feels like when the nervous system finally gets to release. You are not alone in this, and you are not broken — your body is doing exactly what it was designed to do. We're just going to help it finish the job.
Offered periodically online (Zoom) and in person.