Online Parenting Classes & Family Therapy in Ellis, KS

New Connections Mental Health works with families throughout Ellis County, and the ones who come from the city of Ellis often share something in common: they already know how to show up for the people they love. Parenting classes in Ellis, Kansas give those families the specific skills to back that commitment up with something concrete and consistent.


Along the I-70 corridor in Ellis County, the city carries a history larger than its size suggests. The Walter P. Chrysler birthplace draws visitors, the railroad shaped the community's identity, and the families who live here are rooted in a place that takes quiet pride in its past. Spread across streets within easy reach of the interstate and close to the county seat in Hays, Ellis families are part of a wider rural corridor that New Connections serves through fully virtual sessions and in-person appointments just a few minutes east.


Tight-knit communities often make parenting challenges feel more visible than they actually are. The worry that seeking support somehow reflects badly on a family is one of the most common things parents name in that first conversation with New Connections. What they discover is that it reflects the opposite. Taking parenting classes in Ellis, Kansas is an act of care, and the families who do it never regret getting started.


Explore our Online Child Parent Relationship Training

The Child-Parent Relationship Training is a 10-week guided program to help you turn daily meltdowns into moments of connection through play, co-regulation, and relationship-based tools, without yelling, power struggles, or feeling like you’re failing as a parent.

How it works

The CPRTprogram is a framework built around connection, not correction

 

 

Every skill in the CPRT program begins with the same principle: children communicate through behavior because they often cannot yet do it with words. Teaching parents to receive that communication changes the entire dynamic. What felt like defiance starts to read as distress. What felt like manipulation starts to read as need. That understanding changes everything.


Explore the right type of coaching for your family

 

 

Ellis families can call New Connections and speak with Michelle Holdeman directly. The first conversation is not an intake. It is a genuine exchange about what is going on at home and what kind of support fits the family's schedule and preferences. Group and individual options are both on the table.



Skills that stay with families long after the program ends

 

 

The skills introduced each week get put into practice at home in a short, structured session. Over time, those brief moments accumulate into a fundamentally different parent-child relationship: one where both parties feel understood and the connection between them is something both can rely on.



Explore our services and specializations


CPRT is not a crisis intervention. It is a foundational program for parents who want to understand their child more deeply, whether things feel difficult right now or simply less connected than they hoped. That breadth of fit is part of what makes it work across such different families and circumstances.


The shift that parents describe is not dramatic at first. It is quiet: a child who reaches for a parent's hand instead of pulling away, a bedtime that ends with a story instead of a standoff, a conversation that does not derail. Those quiet shifts are the ones that last.


For Ellis families, the virtual format of this online parenting course means that access does not depend on schedule flexibility or transportation. The program comes to the parent rather than asking the parent to come to it.



A teenager in a small community like Ellis has very few places to process what they are carrying. The school counselor knows everyone's parents. The community is close. The pressure to seem fine is constant. Therapy gives young people a space that is entirely their own, with no social stakes attached.


Adolescents in therapy often discover something that surprises them: the relief of being honest with someone who is not going to report back to their family or friends. That privacy creates the conditions for real work, and the work tends to be genuine in a way that produces lasting shifts.


Virtual sessions remove the visibility that can make therapy feel risky in a small city. A teen in Ellis can connect with a therapist from whatever corner of home feels most private, and attend consistently without it becoming a topic of conversation around town.



In a community as close as Ellis, family tension can feel like local news before it is even fully named. That pressure sometimes keeps families from addressing what is wrong before it becomes much harder to fix. Family therapy offers a confidential, structured space where the family can work on itself without an audience.


The conversations that happen in family therapy often go places families did not anticipate. Old grievances get acknowledged. Communication patterns that everyone had accepted as just the way things are get examined and, sometimes, replaced entirely. The shift tends to feel incremental until one day it does not.


Virtual sessions make the work accessible for Ellis families without requiring anyone to drive, shift schedules significantly, or coordinate in ways that add pressure to an already full household.



We serve clients in Ellis and nearby areas

New Connections Mental Health serves Ellis, Ellis County, and the surrounding communities along the I-70 corridor. Virtual parenting classes and an online parenting course reach families in WaKeeney, Victoria, Hays, and the broader northwest Kansas region. In-person appointments are available at 2810 Plaza Avenue in Hays, just a short drive east on the interstate. The map below shows the office location.


Testimonials

“I’m very grateful for your wisdom! You are so gifted at your profession!”

“Thank you so much for helping me with my child. You have no idea how much we appreciate it and how much you mean to the both of us!”

“I hope you know how much you mean to us. You are incredibly talented and came into our lives at the exact right time. Thank you for supporting and loving us. Your work has made a world of difference in our trajectory and healing. We love you very very much!”

Hi, I'm Michelle Holdeman, founder of New Connections Mental Health group practice

New Connections Mental Health serves Ellis, Ellis County, and the surrounding communities along the I-70 corridor. Virtual parenting classes and an online parenting course reach families in WaKeeney, Victoria, Hays, and the broader northwest Kansas region. In-person appointments are available at 2810 Plaza Avenue in Hays, just a short drive east on the interstate. The map below shows the office location.


Frequently asked questions

  • How is CPRT different from any other parenting curriculum?

    • CPRT teaches one manageable skill each week, practiced during 30-minute parent-child playtime, making it easier to absorb than most parenting programs.
    • The focus on play connects with the way kids naturally express themselves.
    • CPRT is also backed by science and listed by SAMHSA as an Evidence-Based Treatment.

  • What is expected from the parent:

    • Instead of overwhelming you with theory, CPRT gives you one new tool each week to try at home during 30 minutes of playtime with your child.
    • It’s hands-on, easy to remember, and designed for busy parents who want practical skills not a total life overhaul.
    • You’ll learn to connect through play, which is how children naturally express thoughts and emotions.
    • CPRT isn’t just another parenting method, it's backed by evidence and recognized by SAMHSA as a trusted, effective approach.

  • Will my insurance cover the cost of CPRT?

    We know insurance can be tricky. For group CPRT classes, we don’t bill insurance. But if you’re doing one-on-one sessions, we’ll provide a superbill so you can try to get reimbursed by your plan.