Dismissing Parent | Disapproving Parent | Laissez-Faire | Emotion-Coaching  

When it comes to dealing with the up-and-down world of emotions, your kids naturally take their cues from you. Are you the wear-it-on-your-sleeve kind of person, or the keep-it-bottled-up type? Do you frown upon frowning, or do you find emotional moments a time for drawing close?

More important, how does your style affect your own children or the children in your care? 

Your attitude toward emotions, especially negative ones like sadness or anger, can shape how your kids learn to handle their own feelings. But good parenting doesn’t mean that you always have to cry at Disney movies. We all have different approaches to emotional experiences, but some are more helpful in nurturing emotional development than others.

Psychologist John Gottman has identified four basic parenting styles in his research on families and the emotional climate of the home.  While we all react differently at different times, you might see yourself more in one style than another.

• The Dismissing Parent

• The Disapproving Parent

• The Laissez-Faire Parent

• The Emotion-Coaching Parent

Although parents were the focus of Dr. Gottman's research, this information will be interesting to all who nurture and care for children.

Learn more about John Gottman.

For more information about how the research studies were done click here.

5 Steps of Emotion Coaching