Friday, Jan. 25, 2008
Lessons in Parenting
By AMANDA ROGERS
News-Mirror Writer
Benny, 29, has been program manager at The Parenting Center in Mansfield since April.
At the downtown center, she counsels youngsters and parents on everything from anger issues to communication.
“Counseling is more about helping someone stuck in a phase of life,” she said. “The counselor is here to guide the client to find the solution to their own problem.”
Some parents think the problems they are having with their children are one-sided, Benny said, but that usually isn’t the case.
“A lot of times parents are quick to say ‘Here’s my kid, fix them’ and not realize how they play a role,” she said.
Benny enjoys helping families work through their problems.
“I want people to be free to be whoever they are supposed to be,” she said.
For Benny, counseling was a calling. After graduating from Duncanville High School, she got her bachelor’s degree in communications with a minor in education at the University of Texas at Arlington. She taught English as a Second Language to third-graders in Arlington for two years, but was still looking for something else.
“I just felt in the classroom setting I was limited,” she said. “I could see how their family situations affected them.”
She went back to school and got a master’s degree in counseling at Texas Women’s University.
In a way, though, Benny has been preparing for her job for most of her life. Her parents, who are from India, are missionaries. Talking things out is natural for her, Benny said. After 30 years in the United States, her parents returned to India last year. That combined with her new job has been tough, Benny admitted.
“This is my first job in counseling,” she said. “I’m trying to juggle two things, counseling and managing.”
Getting the word out about The Parenting Center has been a challenge, she said.
“I feel like it’s the best-kept secret in Mansfield,” she said.
The Parenting Center opened in Fort Worth in 1975. The Mansfield location began in 1998, setting up shop in The Station House on the corner of Broad and Main streets. The center has two play therapy rooms, two classrooms and five counseling offices. Three counselors and a student intern see approximately 32 clients per week. Fees range depending on income and insurance.
The center also offers classes to help parents and youngsters deal with truancy, ADHD, setting boundaries, learning to co-parent after a divorce and more. A lot of the classes at the United Way-sponsored center are free.
Benny, who lives in Fort Worth, is enjoying Mansfield.
“There’s a strong sense of community here,” she said.
100 E. Broad St.
Mansfield
(817) 477-1010
Print
E-Mail
