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Parenting Groups
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Parenting Groups
Incredible Years
Incredible Years is a parenting programme developed in the USA by Dr. Carolyn Webster Stratton. The course is aimed at parents of children aged 3 to 12 years and is delivered in two-hour sessions over 12 weeks.
Incredible Years aims to:
- Improve parent-child relationships
- Promote children’s social and emotional competence
- Improve parent and child’s anger management and problem-solving strategies
- Reduce critical and physical discipline and increase the use of positive strategies
- Help parents to set effective limits, establish routines and monitor behaviour
- Improve home-school relationships and develop peer support networks.
The programme consists of topics which build upon one another:
- Strengthening Children's Social Skills, Emotional Regulation and School Readiness Skills
- Using Praise and Incentives to Encourage Cooperative Behaviour
- Positive Discipline: Rules, Routines and Effective Limit Setting.
Handling Misbehaviour
Extensive research has evidenced continuing positive outcomes for parental health and well being as well as child social, emotional and behavioural development and wellbeing (Webster-Stratton et al, 2009).
It is recommended by NICE guidance CG72 on the treatment of ADHD and has been evaluated by NICE as being effective and cost-effective for those diagnosed with or at risk of developing conduct disorders.
Strengthening Families
Strengthening Families is a 7 week family skills training programme developed in the USA by Dr Virginia Molgaard of Iowa State University. It is a family programme that works with parents and children between 10 and 14 years.
Strengthening Families is a nationally and internationally recognized parenting and family strengthening programme suitable for families who are experiencing varying degrees of difficulty.
It is an evidence-based group found to significantly reduce problem behaviours, delinquency, and alcohol and drug abuse in children and to improve social competencies and school performance. Parents learn to strengthen their bonds with their children and learn more effective parenting skills suitable for older children. It helps to prepare for and manage the teenage stage of parenting.
Parents and children meet separately for the first hour then spend the second hour together in family activities. The family practice sessions allow the parents and children time to practice what they learned in their individual sessions in experiential exercises. This is also a time for the group leaders to coach and encourage family members for improvements in parent/child interactions.
Feedback from parents attending Strengthening Families
Flying Start for Toddlers
Flying Start for Toddlers is an in-house course aimed at parents of 1-3 year olds. It draws on key elements from other evidence-based interventions, such as Incredible Years and HENRY (Health, Exercise, Nutrition for the Really Young).
The course runs in two hour sessions over six weeks, and covers:
1. The importance of play to child development
2. The power of attention: how to positively shape your child’s behaviour
3. Limit setting and behaviour management strategies
4. Healthy eating habits and exercise: including portion-size and how to deal with picky eaters
5. Speech & Language: how to optimise your child’s learning and why it is important
6. Routines, especially bedtimes and potty training. Trouble-shooting Q&A session.
The aim of the course is to provide useful information around key aspects of child development, coupled with practical advice on parenting strategies to help their child’s progress in these areas.
Desirable Outcomes include:
- Increased ‘reflective parenting’
- Facilitated parent to parent support
- Parents have a better understanding of their child’s developmental stage and needs
- Increased use of “positive parenting” techniques.
What parents have said
