Free Autism Parent & Caregiver Support Group in Kelowna

Parenting a child, teen, or young adult with Autism Spectrum Disorder can be deeply meaningful, and it can also be incredibly demanding. Many parents and caregivers carry the daily responsibility of supporting emotional regulation, school refusal, sensory overwhelm, social challenges, transitions, meltdowns, shutdowns, anxiety, family stress, and the ongoing need to advocate within medical, educational, and community systems.

At Safe & Sound Therapeutics in Kelowna, we understand that parents and caregivers need support too.

Beginning Wednesday, September 9, 2026, Shauna Paynter, Registered Clinical Counsellor, Clinical Supervisor, licensed teacher, and parent with lived experience, will be offering a free in-person support and skills group for parents and caregivers raising children, teens, and young adults with Autism.

This group introduces Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, commonly known as ACT, in a practical, supportive, and accessible way. ACT is a science-based therapeutic approach that helps individuals build psychological flexibility, connect with their values, respond more effectively to stress, and move toward meaningful action even when life feels difficult.

For parents and caregivers, this matters.

When a child refuses school, struggles with transitions, becomes overwhelmed, or shuts down, the whole family system can be affected. Parents may feel worried, exhausted, frustrated, isolated, or unsure what to do next. This group is designed to offer both emotional support and practical tools.

What Parents and Caregivers Will Learn

This group will gently introduce ACT-based skills that can help parents and caregivers:

Understand stress and emotional overwhelm through a nervous-system-informed lens
Respond to difficult thoughts and feelings with more flexibility
Learn mindfulness and present-moment practices
Identify personal and family values
Reduce isolation by connecting with other parents and caregivers
Build self-compassion during challenging parenting moments
Develop practical tools for responding rather than reacting
Support the whole family system with greater steadiness and clarity

This is not a group about “fixing” children.

It is a group about helping parents and caregivers feel more supported, informed, grounded, and connected while raising neurodiverse children and young people.

Why ACT for Autism Parent Support?

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is increasingly used in counselling, health care, and parent support because it does not require people to eliminate stress before living well. Instead, ACT helps people relate differently to stress, anxiety, grief, uncertainty, and overwhelm.

For parents raising children with Autism, this approach can be especially helpful. Many caregivers are navigating chronic stress, school challenges, family pressure, emotional exhaustion, and the ongoing task of understanding their child’s unique nervous system.

ACT helps parents ask important questions:

What matters most to me as a parent?

How do I want to show up, even when things are hard?

What thoughts or fears pull me away from the parent I want to be?

What small, values-based action can I take today?

These questions help shift parents away from shame, self-criticism, and helplessness and toward presence, clarity, and committed action.

A Neurodiversity-Affirming Approach

At Safe & Sound Therapeutics, we specialize in supporting neurodiverse individuals, couples, children, teens, young adults, and families. Our approach is grounded in respect, relationship, nervous system awareness, and the understanding that behaviour is often communication.

Many parents arrive at counselling feeling pressure to “fix” a behaviour. Yet children and teens are not problems to fix. They are people to understand.

When we begin to understand what is underneath behaviour, including sensory needs, anxiety, executive functioning challenges, communication differences, masking, burnout, or social overwhelm, we can respond more compassionately and effectively.

This group offers parents and caregivers a place to slow down, learn, reflect, and gather tools they can use in real life.

Group Details

Group Name: Free Autism Parent & Caregiver Support Group
Approach: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy skills, mindfulness, parent support, neurodiversity-affirming education
Facilitator: Shauna Paynter, RCC-ACS, CCC-S, licensed teacher, clinical supervisor, and parent with lived experience
Location: Safe & Sound Therapeutics, Unit 209, 2365 Gordon Drive, Kelowna, BC
Setting: In-person group, upper floor of the main building in Guisachan Village
Cost: Free
Time: 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm
Dates: Every other Wednesday beginning September 9, 2026

Group dates:

September 9
September 23
October 7
October 21
November 4
November 18
December 2
December 16

Who This Group Is For

This group is for parents and caregivers raising children, teens, or young adults with Autism or suspected Autism who are looking for support, education, connection, and practical skills.

This may be a good fit if you are navigating:

Autism parenting stress
School refusal
Emotional dysregulation
Sensory overwhelm
Meltdowns or shutdowns
Family strain
Caregiver burnout
Anxiety related to parenting
Isolation or lack of support
Difficulty knowing how to respond during challenging moments

Parents do not need previous experience with ACT, mindfulness, or counselling to attend.

Register for the Free Group

Space is limited, and registration is required.

You may also scan the QR code on our poster or flyer to register directly.

Supporting Parents Supports the Whole Family

Parents and caregivers often hold so much. They advocate, organize, comfort, research, attend appointments, communicate with schools, manage routines, and try to stay emotionally available through it all.

Support for parents is not secondary. It is essential.

When parents feel less alone and more equipped, the whole family benefits. This group offers a place to be supported, to learn practical ACT skills, and to reconnect with the values that matter most in the parenting journey.

At Safe & Sound Therapeutics, we believe presence is the practice. Understanding comes before intervention. And families do better when parents are supported too.

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