Do you sometimes wonder and worry about your child’s behaviour?
Do you ever worry about your relationship with our child?
Do you feel like you just do not know what to do?
The Connect Parent Group is a series of 10, one-hour, small-group, workshops delivered over 10 weeks in Williams Lake.
Rather than focusing on behavioural management techniques, Connect focuses on enhancing the building blocks of attachment, improving the parents’ ability to reflect before acting, and adjust their feelings so they respond more constructively to conflict.
Parents watch role-plays presented by two facilitators who open new choices for responding to their adolescent’s difficult behaviour.
Parents learn, for example, that conflict is part of attachment and is particularly acute during times, such as the transition through adolescence.
Parents learn to “step back” in emotionally charged situations, recognize and modify their own feelings, while considering the possible meanings behind their adolescent’s behaviour.
Parents are also encouraged to reflect on their own experiences, when they were adolescents as well as their present circumstances.
Helping parents feel more knowledgeable in these areas helps them understand their adolescent’s behaviours and needs.
This allows parents to keep their emotions in check when dealing with difficult situations and use parenting strategies that clearly set limits and expectations but does it in a way that maintains relationships.
Parents report feeling less stressed and more effective in parenting; they see fewer behaviour problems and better social functioning in their teen.
The program is sponsored by Family Solutions Program at Canadian Mental Health Association Cariboo Chilcotin Branch.
The next session starts Tuesday, April 15 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. and continues on Tuesdays until June 17.
There is no charge but pre-registration is required before April 1. For more information contact Sheila Cohen at 250-305-4487.
