ABOUT HER
Dr. Cuneo's training and professional experience has focused on the healthy development of children and families and overcoming risks and challenges to development.
She earned her doctoral degree in Applied Developmental Psychology from Fordham University. She also has postgraduate training in working with infants, toddlers, and parents.
She has worked with children and families for the past two decades in a variety of settings, including a primary health care center in the South Bronx, home- and community-based early intervention and preschool special education programs, center-based preschool special education programs, and private practice in Rockland County, New York. She has also taught psychology classes at the college level and has been involved in several research projects. She is a licensed psychologist in the state of New York.
Source: www.drcuneo.com
INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT
EMPOWERED MOMMIES (EM): Dr Cuneo, thank you again for giving us the opportunity to sit down with you. You have decades of experience focusing on the healthy development of children and families having worked in a variety of settings, including a primary health care center in the South Bronx, home- and community-based early intervention and preschool special education programs, center-based preschool special education programs, and private practice in Rockland County, New York. Can you share with us your educational and career background and how you came to specialize in this field?
DR KATHLEEN CUNEO (KC): I have always been interested in working with children from my first job in high school as a daycamp counselor. In college and graduate school my interest in understanding more about how people, and children specifically, “work” lead me to study developmental psychology. During graduate school I realized that a career consisting of only studying what makes people tick was not completely satisfying for me, and I began to seek opportunities to apply that knowledge in real world settings. Working with parents of young children has been especially rewarding to me because so much potential for change and positive outcomes exists for children’s development when a strong parent-child foundation is established from early on in life.
EMPOWERED MOMMIES (EM): What do you think are some of the greatest challenges parents are facing today when it comes to raising their children in comparison to previous generations?
DR KATHLEEN CUNEO (KC): I think today’s families are more stressed than previous generations with greater demands on their time and more economic pressures. I also think that today’s families generally lack the extended family and neighborhood support that previous generations may have experienced. Many parents have not had much exposure to young children before they become parents themselves, and they don’t have a good understanding of what to expect and how to interact with children. I think that more parents today question their parenting decisions because of their lack of experience and support combined with their desire to raise their children to be the best that they can be. Many parents know that they would like to parent differently than they themselves were parented. They might know what they don’t want to do, but are unclear as to what to do. Also, many parents have access to lots of different, and sometimes conflicting, information about best parenting practices and can be overwhelmed with sorting through all this information.
EMPOWERED MOMMIES (EM): You have developed The "Empowered Parenting Program", Can you tell us more about your program and how it's different from other forms of counseling?
DR KATHLEEN CUNEO (KC): There are three keys to my concept of empowered parenting: knowing yourself, knowing your child, and communicating effectively. My Empowered Parenting Program is one of the parent coaching packages that I offer. The program focuses on exercises to help parents develop skills to enhance each of those three keys. I believe this is different than other forms of counseling because the focus is neither solely on the parent’s individual experience nor on the individual child’s behavior. My work with parents empowers them to have greater awareness of themselves and of their children which will help them develop parenting skills which will work for their particular family. My goal is to help parents learn to trust themselves and find their own parenting voice.
EMPOWERED MOMMIES (EM): On your site you offer parents a Free Report "30 Things You Can Do To Raise Self-Confident, Compassionate Children". Without giving away too much ;) Can you tell us what the high-level principles are?
DR KATHLEEN CUNEO (KC): This report provides suggestions for activities and exercises to help parents develop each of the three keys of empowered parenting. Some of the activities involve self-reflection while others are specific ideas for family interaction. A list of resources for further information is also included with the report. You can request a Report here.
EMPOWERED MOMMIES (EM): If you had to look forward a decade, how do you hope your reports, advice and counseling will have influenced and helped parents?
DR KATHLEEN CUNEO (KC): My hope is that my work will have helped parents feel more confident about their parenting. I would love to be able to influence parents to develop strong connections with their children in a way that promotes positive child development. My ultimate goal is to see children grow up with self-confidence and compassion for the world around them.
Thank you so much for the opportunity to share my ideas with you and your readers.
EMPOWERED MOMMIES (EM): Thank You!
To learn more about Dr Cuneo and her program, please visit www.drcuneo.com