Storm & Peace: Parenting & Psychology of Child, #1

Authors Tree Publishing

KBT MIG - 8, Housing Board Colony

Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh 495001

First Published By Authors Tree Publishing 2023

Copyright © Dr. Sukanya Biswas, 2023

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review.

ISBN: 978-93-94807-45-7

MRP: Rs. 449/-

This book has been published with all reasonable efforts taken to make the material error-free after the consent of the Author. No part of this book shall be used, reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the Author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. The Author of this book is solely responsible and liable for its content including but not limited to the views, representations, descriptions, state-ments, information, opinions and references [content]. The content of this book shall not constitute or be construed or deemed to reflect the opinion or expression of the publisher or editor. Neither the publisher nor editor endorse or approve the content of this book or guarantee the reliability, accuracy or completeness of the content published herein and do not make any representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose. The publisher and editor shall not be liable whatsoever foray errors, omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause or claims for loss or damages of any kind, including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage arising out of use, inability to use, or about the reliability, accuracy or sufficiency of the information contained in this book.

STORM

&

PEACE

A Handbook for Facilitators On

Parents’ Psycho-Education Program for Healthy Parent-child Relationship and Reducing At-Risk Behaviour of Adolescents

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Written & Compiled By

Dr. Sukanya Biswas

&

Dr. Poonam Sharma

ACNOWLEDGEMENT

This psycho-education program was developed as part of Ph.D Research work. It was researched and compiled by Dr. Sukanya Biswas and Dr. Poonam Sharma (Guide). The authors wish to thank Dr. Gautam Gawali Ph.D., director AIBAS, for his guidance, encouragement, and support in the research, as well as the research Advisory Board for conceptual and concrete suggestions for developing a practical guidebook for program directors, educators, and others interested in extending and strengthening the network of effective prevention interventions for parents of at-risk adolescents. Appreciation is expressed to the expert panel for their valuable assistance for the sessions.

ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS

Dr. Ashutosh Srivastava, Ph.D.

National President at Bharatiya Counselling Psychology

Association Associate Lead – Capacity Building & SBCC with Water Aid India.

Executive Director of Psyuni Trust (India)

Dr. Rekha Wagani, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Psychology and Behaviour Science

Amity Institute of Behavioural and Allied Sciences (AIBAS )

Dr. Vineeta Kumar, Ph.D.

Psychologist & Remedial Therapist

Certified CBT and REBT practitioner

Mrs. Meenakshi Bhat

M.A. B.Ed.

Retired Teacher/Counsellor School Board of Management.

Mr. Bhargava Patwardhhan

School health facilitator for Amicares India Foundation

Behavioural, Life skill trainer and business development executive for Magic Bus Venter for Learning and   Development

CONTENTS

FORWARD

Today society has moved on from a joint/clustered entity to a nucleated family. As young parents, without the support and experience of the joint family of parents and grandparents, one tends to oscillate between being too indulgent and being too lackadaisical. Modern Indian parents are unsure of when to cut the proverbial Umbilical Cord. The result of this is that children drift into becoming what their parents would not have bargained for - an unsatisfied poorly executed clone. Thus, it has become imperative that Parenting, as a concept, and its resultant outcomes need a careful analysis.

This book, the result of the endless hours spent by Dr. Sukanya Biswas and Dr. Poonam Sharma, is an attempt to objectify parenting in today’s perspective. Using scientific methodologies like Data Analysis and Assessment the authors have made a valiant attempt to quantify the qualitative. They do not propose a ‘one-size-fit-all’ solution to the issues of parenting. The reader is gently guided across this rather difficult terrain and encouraged to make well informed decisions consciously specially during those difficult adolescent ages.

Once the parents acknowledge that they could do with a helping hand these suggestions could be taken so that the problem areas can be appropriately tackled. Kudos to the both the writers for their endeavour to remove some of the parenting cobwebs.

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Devendra Kumar

Principal

Pawar Public School

Overview

Introduction

Purpose of this Intervention:

This intervention module is intended to psycho-educate parents of at-risk adolescence by providing preventive intervention, and knowledge and offer suggestions to support the parent in dealing with risky behaviour which  parents may find challenging.

Aim:

This intervention module aims to strengthen parenting skills and competencies, parent-child relationships and foster parents’ involvement in adolescents’ school experiences to promote adolescents’ academic, psychological, and social well-being and risky emotional and behavioural concerns.

What This Module Includes:

Parent psycho-education programme is designed to increase parents’ capacities to care for and protect their adolescents from undue risky behaviour, which can threaten their overall growth and development. The goal of parenting psycho-education programmes is to reduce the number of risk factors an adolescent faces while strengthening and building on protective factors (e.g., knowledge and skills). It exclusively focuses on identifying risks and eliminating them. The current emphasis is on building   up the protective factors that help children and parents to be resilient and develop the skills, characteristics, knowledge, and relationships to face the risks. Using a ‘protective factors’ approach is a positive way to engage parents because it focuses on parenting skills and provides them the knowledge of adolescent  development and risky behaviour during this phase and builds a base for lifelong positive  parent-child relationships.

The module contains materials for twelve structured workshop sessions. The structured workshop sessions are designed for twelve weekly meetings of about two hours each that is implemented according   to program and participant needs. Each session includes instructions for leading the session, handouts, discussion questions, and ideas for presenting information on the topics covered. Homework assignments are included to encourage practice of the  parenting skills between sessions.

Why is parenting psycho-educational support important?

Formal parenting psycho-educational support can come from a range of different sources, including telephone advice lines, written resources, online forums and parent education programs (Centre for Community Child Health, 2007). Effective parenting psycho-educational support can assist in the development of healthy, positive parent–child interactions—the cornerstone to positive child outcomes (Centre for Community Child Health,2007; Scott, O’Connor, & Futh, 2006).

Although parents from all walks of life can benefit from effective parenting psycho-educational support, it  can be especially beneficial to families experiencing certain types of disadvantage. This is because problems such as psychological, social, academic, emotional and behavioural issues can make parents more   vulnerable to a reduced capacity to provide basic care and a stable, nurturing environment for their children (NSW Department of Community Services, 2006). This can then have a detrimental impact upon child outcomes (Dawe, Harnett, Staiger, & Dadds, 2000).

One type of parenting support that has been demonstrated to improve the long-term developmental trajectories of children experiencing disadvantage are well-designed early intervention programs that specifically address aspects of parent–child interactions and relationships (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000). These types of interventions are commonly referred to as parent psycho-educational education programs. Effective parenting psycho-educational education programs address parenting problems in a number of ways. Identifying the ways in which parenting programs are effective can assist practitioners who work with parents by providing them with a structure for assessing and responding to the parenting support needs of their clients.

But how do they work? What leads to those positive outcomes for parents and their families? What can practitioners draw from these programs to enhance their work with parents?

The factors that make parenting programs successful were identified by Holzer et al. (2006) as: targeted recruitment, a structured program, a combination of interventions/strategies, and a strengths-based approach.

These elements are:

Assessing a parent’s needs.

Exploring parents’ understanding of child development.

Identifying the most appropriate format for education and support; and

Addressing logistical issues.

Consideration of  these elements will help to ensure that parents with different needs and capacities receive  the most appropriate support.

Assessing a parent’s needs

Parents come to parent support services with varying needs. Some of these parents may not really understand what their needs are—they know they have a problem. Some parents will be seeking a solution to a specific problem; others will be looking for broader strategies and understanding to help them  in their role as parents and to foster a positive relationship with their child.

In talking with the parent, it is important to ascertain whether the parent’s needs are straightforward; do they want factual information and strategies on dealing with specific behaviours or problems (such as establishing and keeping a nightly routine for their child) or do they need help with a more complicated task (such as understanding and managing their child’s emotions and behaviour)?

Being clear about the history and nature of the problem, assessing the current parent–child relationship, and identifying sources of support for the parent are keys to formulating an appropriate and effective plan  of assistance. Observations of  the  parent and  child  together can help you guide the parent towards the most appropriate and effective form of assistance.

It is important also to consider the fact that there may be multiple sources of difficulty for a parent and their family, especially for those who are experiencing disadvantage. Exploring the broader context of the  client’s circumstances can help you determine whether an intervention that focuses on specific parenting issues is sufficient for the parent at this time or whether they would benefit most from a program that targets individual, couple and/or family issues. Offering assistance in only one domain (e.g., parent–child relationship) may be ineffective if other sources of stress are not identified, prioritised and addressed. Since there may be more than one factor contributing to the issue for which the client is seeking help, addressing these other factors may have positive flow-on effects in other areas of their life.

As part of assessing a parent’s needs, it is important to assess  their  level of  parenting confidence. Being a parent  is a demanding task,  and experiencing difficulties with children can erode  an  individual’s  confidence  as a parent. Having an idea of how confident the client is in their parenting can help to identify the type of  assistance that would be of most benefit.

For example, a reasonably confident  parent may just require some simple strategies for dealing with specific issues or behaviours. Those whose confidence has been dented by recent challenging  behaviours in their child may require a brief intervention, while others who have experienced a longer period of difficulties with their child may be in need of more intense assistance over an extended period.

Exploring parents’ understanding of child development

Parents have varying levels of knowledge and understanding about children’s emotional, cognitive, physical and social development.   Misunderstanding a child’s capacities  at various ages  can  lead a parent   to   have expectations of the child’s behaviour and achievements that the child cannot fulfil, which  may impact   on parenting behaviour and the interactions between a parent and their child.

It may be useful to try to pinpoint how the parent feels their child is progressing in each developmental domain so that they can  have their immediate concerns allayed or addressed, and you can  then direct them towards the appropriate type and level of assistance.

Gauging  how well the parent understands the child’s world can help you identify which services will effectively address the situation. These might include coaching in understanding and regulating both the parent’s and the child’s emotions, strategies and skills in managing problematic child behaviours, or a combination of both.

Identifying the most appropriate format for psycho- education and support

People learn in different ways. While some parents may respond positively to learning material in a lecture- style session, others will respond more positively to an individually tailored, one-on-one learning environment. Similarly, some parents may be comfortable with group discussions with other parents, whereas others may not. To get the most out of parenting support, it is important that a parent feel reasonably comfortable with the type of support they access.

It is also important to consider people’s level of education. It may be difficult for a client with low literacy skills, for instance, to get the most out of a parenting program that focuses upon extensive  written  material   (e.g., a parent manual). People’s previous experiences with learning (e.g., school experiences) can impact upon their preference for how education and support is delivered.

Exploring  previous experiences with learning can ensure that the parent will be able to participate in services that engage and maintain their interest and commitment. Exploring with the parent the various ways in which parenting programs are offered may make it easier to determine the format with which they  feel most comfortable.

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Addressing logistical issues

Parents experiencing disadvantages may face particular challenges in accessing services regularly or for extended periods. For example, a  parent needs stable childcare or support from other family members to be able to attend every 6-week (or longer) program session.

Those on low incomes may need more financial resources to cover the cost of transport to the program. Some parents may be experiencing several complex and pressing issues (e.g., relationship breakdown, financial difficulties, securing suitable housing) that preclude them from being receptive to any parenting assistance, let alone can commit attending a program of any duration.

Parenting psychoeducation or support is unlikely to help a parent if instability in their day-to-day lives constrains their ability to engage in physically and persist with a program or service. It is important therefore to explore with the parent their capacity to realistically participate in the various kinds of parenting assistance you are able to offer, and to identify how their engagement can be optimised. Addressing logistical issues may make it easier to the parent to attend a parenting program or service.

Parents Psycho-education intervention

Section -1

Introduction to the Parents Psycho-educational Intervention

OBJECTIVES

By the end of this session, parents will be able to:

Articulate the purpose, goals, ground rules and requirements for completion of the program.

Meet group members who have similar experiences and begin the process of building supportive  relationships in the group

SESSION OVERVIEW

In this session, Facilitators get to know parents, and their goals for their adolescence. They also develop some ‘group guidelines’ for how the group will be structured and how they will interact with each other every week. The Facilitators explain the parents’ psycho-education. Participants will complete a pre-test.

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Steps to follow

1.1 Welcome and introduction

Welcome parents and praise them for attending.

SAY > Welcome and thank you for coming to our first adolescent parenting training program!

We are so happy you are here today! This workshop is for sharing and learning, and for giving and getting   support for the most challenging job in the world - being a parent. The purpose of today’s session is to introduce you to the program and to other group members. We will discuss the components of the program, explain the goals and ground rules and how you will be able to empower your teens with the skills that will help them deal with their issues and restore respectful family relationships. This will be a collaborative process where we will all share information and learn from each other!

An important part of the parent group is to get support from other parents and know that you are not alone in your struggles with your teen. Many parents might have come into the program feeling isolated and alone in their experiences with their teenagers. Many believe that no one else has teens like