‘We are a generation of broken hearts and broken people.’

Hearing this statement in a crowd in your young days might be the most relatable thing that could happen to you. It might even as well be true because the surrounding seems to be filled with broken people.

Every face on the bus to take to travel back home tells a story, or the car beside you when you wait at a signal on your way to the office pictures a frustrated or puzzled portrayal of life’s bitterness. Amid all this, the only sound that sounds refreshing, no matter how many times you hear it is the sound of a child laughing. The clucking laughter and the milky white eyes of hope picture a reality of a happy face. Doesn’t read about it evoke a reliving or a happy emotion?

But on the other hand, one of the most heartbreaking stories that are told, seen and experienced often involves a puzzled young adult. And it is agreed that in the busy and conscious world, finding time for your child is extremely crucial.

Discarding all the failed attempts of oneself’s holistic growing arc; every parent wants to be a good and responsible parent for their children. No matter how the messed-up threadlike life is entangled in the process of having a happy and sorted lifestyle, it is their children the last HOPE that keeps them going, flowing in the watery mist of embracing the beauty of life.

Having said that, some studies have proven that good parenting or childhood can impact a person’s adult life. Even the dusty stories of fame, power, and knowledge share the same. And when in the mixed bag of surprises called life you find hopelessness, it is the cry for help that reunites you with life, restoring your faith in hope. As Andy Dufresne in Shawshank Redemption says, “Hope is a good thing; may the best thing and no good thing ever dies.”

Based on this concept or conjuncture of life, helping people to find hope and allow them to re-instil their belief in life to provide a holistic childhood to children, we came across Ummeed Counselling & Consulting Services, which has been counselling the modern- day parents to lead a healthy life for them and their kids.

Talking with The Knowledge Review about how ‘Parenting Counsellors Making Parenting Easy’ in the modern world, Salony Priya, Director of UMMEED Counselling & Consulting Services, shares how she and her firm is making a difference in the modern lifestyle of the 21st century.

An Indulging Story of HOPE!

UMMEED Counselling & Consulting Services was established with a vision to provide counselling and consulting services to the commoners. Mrs Salony Priya, a renowned counselling psychologist with a rich experience in the field of Education Management, Human Development, and Parental Guidance of 18 years, has curated new, tried and tested psychological techniques that help parents become better parents.

Apart from being the Director of UMMEED Counselling & Consulting Services, she is also a Trustee of the UMMEED Foundation. Along with that, she is a wise advisor for Mentor and Educational Initiatives and is quite a recognised personality in the field of education.

After taking up the responsibility at UMMEED, Mrs Salony has curated some unique ways of delivering and presenting workshops. She is quite popular for her program at UMMEED-Positive Parenting, which has defined her story with UMMEED as a story of hope.

With her inclusion in the core team, the workshops are known for their interactive nature, informal delivery style and keen observation, defining the highly effective, entertaining and informative workshops.

And such has been the story of UMMEED and Mrs Salony Priya, the indulging story of HOPE.

The Benefits of Parent Counselling

In an interaction with the magazine, Mrs Salony Priya shared some of the unique benefits of the parents’ counselling sessions. Highlighting some of the major benefits of parent counselling and the Positive Parenting Program at UMMEED, Mrs Salony shares, “Psycho-educational – based on sound research on child psychology and provides very proactive insights and solutions to parents that are age appropriate and very practical. Apart from that, all Ummeed parenting classes educate parents on understanding child’s behaviour as per their age and evolve techniques for parents respecting their situations and uniqueness.”

“Moreover, very personalised, need-based coaching on building parenting skills, freeing from past conditioning of parents’ childhood experience is also what many parents struggle with. After all, the parenting styles are analysed, and then counselling and therapy are provided so that parents can deal with their anxiety and stress, accordingly,” Mrs Salony continues.

“Extremely practical, everyday lifestyle changes that can have a profound impact. All our clients appreciate our process as besides giving them insight, it has given them respect, trust, and confidentiality,” she further adds.

A Wise and Knowledgeable Leader

Mrs Salony Priya is the Director of UMMEED Counselling & Consulting Services. She has a very strong aura and gained immense wisdom and knowledge over the years. As a coach, motivational speaker, and therapist, she appears to be a rare person with a shared love for children and an expert in child psychology. Her expertise lies in breaking down the knowledge into very practical and simple steps to understand and implement the required changes.

Being a role model for many and a proud parent herself, she has developed an empathetic style and tremendously connects with social norms for effective parenting.

Talking about her exclusive leadership and counselling sessions, the management says, “She comes across as an extremely understanding, knowledgeable therapist, who makes the parent, even in the most extreme situation of distress, see a ray of hope. When guiding young couples with children’s behaviour, she always builds hope in parents that it is not bad parenting; it is just a miss match of the child’s needs and your approach.”

“When dealing with adolescent parenting issues, she always focuses on resolving the conflict and teaching both parents and the teenager how to build a life-long respectful relationship. She allows parents to have a guilt-free, frustration-free approach where they can trust their gut feeling and use LOVE and LOGIC in their parenting,” UMMEED Counselling & Consulting Services management further adds.

A Unique Coaching Methodology

UMMEED Counselling & Consulting Services have carved a specific niche in the market for its unique coaching methodology and the system they have curated to achieve excellence. Here are some of the unique coaching methodologies curated by UMMEED Counselling & Consulting Services:

• Identification of parenting styles – discrepancy between both parents in their style and its impact;
• One-to-one counselling to parents on their communication patterns;
• Video coaching on resolving emotional distress;
• Building hopes of an effective relationship with children;
• Creating awareness of shifting norms in society;
• Play therapy and art therapy with children;
• Video coaching;
• Skill building and responsibility training;
• 4A Model of adolescent anguish – case situations-based simulation training.

A Panel of Expertise

UMMEED has been in the field of parenting counselling for a while time now. Being a trendsetter in the industry, UMMEED has carved a niche for itself in the counselling space. For this, the foundation has accumulated an expert team of a psychologist specialised in child psychology and parenting counselling.

Talking about her team, Mrs Salony Priya says, “Ummeed operates in providing coaching and counselling to parents in the group, sensitising talks in educational institutions, in social organisations as well as one-to-one therapy sessions. A team of counsellors, special educators, play and art therapists and clinical psychologists provides assistance in diagnosis as well as providing individualistic, need-based support and solutions.”

Further elaborating this, Mrs Salony Priya further adds, “Counsellors enable children to develop skills and overcome their difficulties. The assessments and testing further enable parents to see the child’s abilities, strengths as well as weaknesses. Moreover, there are also therapies to support behaviour modification.”

“Counselling for parents to build desired parenting skills and develop a more balanced approach to deal and cope with the situation is often and openly discussed. And the team also provides research, publishes papers on the work done in the field of parenting and develops successful case studies that provide inspiration and belief to parents. Having said that, the coaching and internship opportunities at Ummeed allow new professionals to learn from the core team’s work,” Mrs Salony Priya further adds.

Lighting the Candle of HOPE!

The COVID-19 pandemic has been eye-opening for many. The locked societies told us the story of the need for counselling and consulting. UMMEED being one the hope many parents and even humans hang on to, the consulting services have mapped a roadmap to meet the increasing demands.

Highlighting some of the plans for the future, Mrs Salony Priya asserts, “UMMEED is working on Coaching on parenting skills videos. An Online parenting webinar with me – Salony Priya. Other than that, a content development plan is under process for the UMMEED parenting app.”

“We are also planning on publishing all success stories in a book and making it available on the application as well. Other than that, we are providing Skype assistance to Indian families with parents based in the Middle East, Canada, Malaysia, as well as in Singapore,” concludes Salony Priya.