Sleep that has fallen apart
Bedtime that takes hours. A child in your bed at 2am. A household tired and short by morning. Sleep responds well to the right plan, built around your child and your home.
Parenting Support · In Your Home
Confident parenting is not about knowing everything.
One to one support from registered psychologists, in your own home. We work with you, with your children, and with the whole whānau, depending on what's needed.
A different starting point
Most parents are doing more right than they realise.
The hard part isn't a lack of love or effort. It's everything around it: conflicting advice, broken sleep, behaviour you can't explain, and the worry that you're the only one finding this difficult.
Confidence doesn't come from reading one more book or learning one more technique. It comes from understanding what's actually going on in your home, building on what already works, and having someone alongside you who knows children and knows families.
The things parents bring us
You’re not the only family dealing with this.
Some families call us because one thing has become a daily battle. Others call because the adults can’t agree on how to handle it. There’s no issue too small to be worth sorting, and none too complex for a registered psychologist to work with.
Behaviour, big feelings, and trouble at school
Meltdowns from nowhere. Every ask a standoff. Calls from school. We help you understand what the behaviour’s telling you, so home and school start pulling in the same direction.
Worry, anxiety, and a child who has changed
A child gone quiet, clingy, or anxious, with worries getting in the way of school, sleep, or friendships. We work with your child where that helps, and with you, so the worry doesn’t take over the house.
Big changes
Separation, a new baby, a bereavement, a move, a diagnosis. Children feel change even when they can’t name it. We help your whānau settle, and give your child steady ground.
Neurodiversity and different ways of thinking
A diagnosis, or a sense your child’s wired differently and the usual advice doesn’t fit. We help you understand how your child thinks, and set up home and school so their strengths have room.
When you and your partner don’t agree
One parent holds the line, the other softens it, and the child learns to read the gap. We help you find an approach you can both stand behind, so your child gets consistency.
How the support works
We come to you.
Children don't have their difficulties in a clinic. They have them at bath time, at the dinner table, on the school run. So we come to your home, see how your family actually works, and build the support around that. When it's easier for you, or you live outside our in-home areas, we also work online.
What that looks like depends on the issue and on who needs the support.
Why we focus on confidence
A confident parent changes the whole house.
When parents feel sure of what they're doing, children settle, behaviour improves, and parents themselves cope better. Parenting confidence is one of the most reliable predictors of how children do, and it's something that can be built.
So we don't hand you a list of rules to follow. We help you become the person who knows what to do next, in your own home, with your own child.
Who you are working with
Psychologists who know children and whānau.
Everyone who does this work is a registered psychologist with real experience of children, parents and whānau. You get a clinician who works with what's actually going on in your home and builds on what's already going well.
We look at the whole child, not just the behaviour. Mind, body and environment: the three things that shape how a child is doing, and when they work together, children do well. That whole-picture view is what 3 Big Things is built on.
And we understand New Zealand families. We work the way families here live, and we take your whānau and your culture seriously, as part of the picture rather than an afterthought.
Common questions
What parents ask us.
When should I get help with my child's behaviour?
It's worth getting help when your child's behaviour is causing daily stress, when you and your partner can't agree on how to handle it, or when something just feels off and you'd rather sort it early. You don't have to be in crisis. Earlier is almost always easier, and the right support helps the whole whānau.
Is parenting support right for our family?
You don't have to be in crisis to call. Some families come to us when things have reached the point of daily stress. Many come earlier, when something just feels off and they'd rather sort it before it grows. Both are the right time.
If you're a parent or caregiver who wants practical, expert support that fits your family and your home, this is for you. We'll talk with you first, listen to what's going on, and tell you honestly what would help, including if that's something other than us.
What actually happens in a home visit?
We come to you, talk through what's going on, and see how your family works day to day. From there we agree a plan together. Depending on the issue, sessions might be with you, with your child, or with the whole whānau, and we adjust as we go.
Do you work with my child, or with me?
Both, as needed. We move between three ways of working as the situation needs:
Mostly with you, the parents, helping you read what's happening and respond in a way that works.
Mostly with your child, through therapy suited to their age, when a child needs their own space to work things through.
Often the whole whānau together, because the change holds best when everyone is part of it.
Is parenting support private and confidential?
Yes. What you share stays between you and your psychologist, within the usual professional and legal limits, and your information is held securely in Aotearoa.
Will the confidence stay with us after the work is done?
Yes. Alongside the therapy, we explain the why. You'll understand what's driving the behaviour and what to do when we're not there, so the confidence stays with you after the work is done.
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