Hello. I'm
Dr. Alaina JohnsonI’m a clinical psychologist, mom of three creatively driven teens and I love helping other parents of creatively driven beings gain increased clarity and confidence engaging with their tweens and teens.
Here’s the
thing
I’m not sure why I never envisioned having three kids who were deeply invested in the creative arts.
But there I was, realizing that this was the journey I was on and so I set out to do what I do best – researching resources on parenting kids who were passionate about a creative pursuit.
Yet, I found very little. The few resources I was able to find that spoke to kids who were into creative endeavors typically focused on how to encourage child prodigies to excel.
After a while I stopped looking and just got down to the business of trying to understand and navigate supporting my kids as best I could between my intuition, bouncing my thoughts off trusted friends and fellow parents of creative kids, as well as my own background in child and adolescent psychology.
During a break from my practice while I temporarily relocated to New York with my son to allow him to perform on Broadway, I connected with even more parents of highly creative tweens and teens who were drawn to various forms of creative arts.
I soon realized there were many universal themes and questions related to parenting these passionate, skilled creative tweens and teens. We were all just doing our best to understand, support and affirm our kids in what they loved and often had made the central theme of their world.
When I restarted my career, in addition to my clinical practice I wanted to address these issues and provide resources for parents of kids who were passionate about the arts. I began Parenting Talent as a means to add coaching, teaching and speaking engagements specializing in supporting parents, families, instructors, organizations and mentors of creatively driven tweens and teens.
You love your kid madly.
You’ve done all you can to support them.
You’ve spent countless hours researching what they might need. Lessons? Private coaching? More opportunities? More community?
You’ve have questions – like why do they say they love their art but often it seems to make them feel just as much stress as joy?
You have concerns about where their relationship with their art may take them…passing interest? Lifelong hobby? Potential career? And how do you help them prepare whatever transitions they will make?
How do you help them deal with competition and comparison?
How do you comfort them through failure?
I get it. I’ve been there…
l’ve been where you are now…
I remember what it’s like to google “why won’t my kid practice?”
Or “how do I help my kid find friends with similar interests?”
Or “how do I know if my kid really has talent?”
Another favorite “what’s the best way to help my kid improve his skills?
It shouldn’t be so hard to find resources, support and relevant information. Having easily accessible information and support that related to the unique journey of creative artists would have been a game-changer in those early days.
