Episode 7
Preparing Your Child For The Road (Not The Road For Your Child): How Challenge Cultivates Resilience in Young People
Episode 7
“Lawnmower parenting” or “Helicopter parenting.” The common theme among these terms is a relationship in which parents aren’t allowing their kids to experience challenge or develop a sense of self-confidence. In this episode, clinical therapist, Jonathan Mitchell explains how parents can shift out of these common parenting struggles and help their children build confidence and resilience.
GUEST PROFILE
Jonathan Mitchell
Senior Clinical Therapist - Adolescent Boys
Jonathan is a licensed professional counselor with extensive experience serving adolescents, young adults, and families. He grew up in Wisconsin, earning his BS in mathematics and physics from the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire in 2000. Instead of getting a job traditional to his field of study, Jonathan took to the outdoors to work with people. Over the next six years, he worked extensively in the wilderness therapy field, in roles such as field director and field manager.
Inspired by the magic of the wilderness to motivate change, Jonathan returned to graduate school and earned a master’s degree in counseling. During this time, he worked as both a therapist at an intensive outpatient addiction treatment center for teens and a college math teacher. He has continued to expand his clinical training, earning a certificate in Gestalt therapy from the Gestalt Institute of the Rockies in 2008. In 2009, he joined Open Sky as a Family Quest therapist and is now a primary clinical therapist for adolescent boys.
Jonathan’s areas of clinical expertise include oppositional defiance, adoption/attachment issues, treatment resistance, navigating non-traditional and complex family systems, substance abuse and addiction, depression, anxiety, and trauma. His clinical approach draws on the teachings of dialectical behavioral therapy, Gestalt therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and years of experience as a field guide. As a therapist, he is appreciated for his pleasant and direct nature, intuitive connection with clients, and knack for working with defiant and strongly guarded adolescents.
When not working at Open Sky, Jonathan can be found exploring the Southwest: rock climbing, trail running, and telemark skiing. He has traveled extensively in India, and his daily meditation and yoga practices are core parts of his life. A Green Bay native, Jonathan is an avid Packers fan.
SELECT QUOTES
Having the parents really look at their own process, their own emotions throughout this. What we’ve found when do this is that they become more resilient, and then their child will follow suit.
The birth place of resilience is when the kids are faced with difficult feelings. They learn how to manage it themselves or with the appropriate support of others, and then they move on. It sounds so simple but it’s not that easy. This is really the essence of what we do and how we coach the parents on how to let their kids have that experience.
One piece is really to allow kids to find the sweet spot for them where they are uncomfortable and not overwhelmed.
MEET THE HOST
Emily Fernandes
Executive Director & Co-Founder
On a wilderness trip in Alaska with the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) in 1995, Emily discovered she could combine two of her passions: working with youth and being outdoors. Since then, she has worked for Aspen Achievement Academy, Hurricane Island Outward Bound School, and Connecticut Wilderness School. She was part of the founding team at Open Sky.
Emily worked as the lead therapist for adolescent girls for her first 5 years at Open Sky. Her areas of clinical expertise include depression, anxiety, grief and loss, trauma, self-harm, disordered eating, and adoption and attachment issues. Her clinical approach is informed by cognitive behavioral, psychodynamic, family systems, and attachment theories. Relationship building through letter writing is a major focus of her work with students and families.
As a founder and owner of Open Sky, as well as the Clinical and Executive Director, Emily brings a breadth of knowledge with her background as a therapist, field guide, trainer, logistics coordinator, emergency responder, and field director, Emily is known for her direct, caring leadership style, her ability to inspire excellence in others, and her team oriented approach. The student treatment plan is her compass for her decision-making regarding Open Sky’s students, families, and employees.
Emily loves reading, writing, yoga, mountain biking, telemark skiing, rock climbing, spending time with friends and family, and cooking with foods from the local farmers’ market.
