Parenting Outside the Box | Vikram Kolmannskog on Alternative Family Structures, Gestalt Therapy

The word “mindfulness” gets thrown around a lot... But have you ever taken the time to consider what it really means to parent mindfully? Or how embracing all of your emotions—even the tough ones—can transform your family life? Gestalt Therapist, certified mindfulness meditation teacher, and father of one, Vikram Kolmannskog, joins us to share wisdom from his upcoming book Reflections on Parenting From a Gestalt Therapist Father: Life With Leo. Vikram shares about his own alternative family structure, the importance of embracing emotional honesty, making space for playfulness, and how the principles of Gestalt therapy can help us raise confident, empathetic kids.

Topics include:

• Understanding Gestalt therapy and its focus on awareness, mindfulness, and relational dialogue in both therapy and everyday life.
• Applying Gestalt and mindfulness strategies to parenting, especially around navigating emotions (both our kids' and our own), while aiming to be a “good enough” dad.
• Exploring co-parenting in an intentional, non-traditional family structure with two fathers and a mother, and the legal, social, and personal challenges encountered.
• The importance of allowing and naming all emotions, including anger, for both children and adults, and breaking emotional taboos in parenting.
• Navigating cultural and institutional heteronormativity around family structures and parenthood, and advocating for greater inclusivity.
• The value of playful parenting, eco-parenting, and the influence of childlike spontaneity and joy on both personal and professional life.
• Creating safe and open environments for children to freely express gender and identity, while preparing them for a world that isn’t always accepting.
• And more!

LINKS
Vikram Kolmannskog (homepage)
Reflections on Parenting From a Gestalt Therapist Father: Life With Leo.
Vikram Kolmannskog (Instagram)
Vikram Kolmannskog (Facebook)
DEATH AND (homepage)
DEATH AND (YouTube)
This Headache Journey (Apple Podcasts)
Caspar Babypants
Spencer Albee
Modern Dadhood (website)
AdamFlaherty.tv
Stuffed Animal (Marc's kids' music)
MD (Instagram)
MD (Facebook)
MD (YouTube)
MD (TikTok)

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