What looks like “bad behavior” is often a nervous system asking for help. The parents learned that curiosity opens doors that control never will. And they learned that addressing the real problem, not just the visible behavior, changes everything.

This is what the CPS model does so well. It doesn’t ask families to choose between safety and growth. It builds a bridge between them. It honors a child’s need for autonomy and protection while gently teaching the skills required to navigate a world that will always include challenges.

The Repair Your Relationship Podcast is hosted by Stacey Curnow, a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor and Relationship Specialist, and founder of Asheville Family Counseling.

Every so often, a story comes into my practice that highlights something important about human behavior, trauma, and the parts of us that drive harmful actions.

I worked with a client I'll call Cassandra. Her former partner, whom I'll call Keith, showed patterns of behavior so aligned with what Martha Stout describes in The Sociopath Next Door that I found myself returning to the book's insights again and again.

The Repair Your Relationship Podcast is hosted by Stacey Curnow, a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor and Relationship Specialist, and founder of Asheville Family Counseling.

He said it quietly, almost apologetically, during a Family Counseling Intensive: “I know my parents care about me, but I don’t feel cared for.”

I could see the words stop his parents in their tracks. Of course they cared. They worried, thought deeply, and talked about their kids constantly. They had invested significant time, energy, and resources into this Intensive precisely because they cared.

And yet, something essential was missing.

The Repair Your Relationship Podcast is hosted by Stacey Curnow, a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor and Relationship Specialist, and founder of Asheville Family Counseling.