Therapeutic parenting groups

Lane Cove Parenting Support Groups
Aim:
To help women manage anxieties which arise during pregnancy and early parenting and to alleviate, as much as possible, the impact of these anxieties on the parent infant relationship

Strategies:

Mobilise mothers’ inner and outer resources to help them through the earlyparenting time
Allow for debriefing of labour
Facilitate formal and informal contact with other mothers
Facilitate referral when necessary
Facilitate contact with relevant community resources
Normalise and contain the mothers’ anxiety
Make links between mothers’ own experiences as babies and
those of their babies
Discuss expectations around parenting
Alleviate negative projections onto baby
Discuss expectations of baby and how parents can assist the meeting of normal developmental challenges

Parenting Groups for Women in Gaol

PIFA has developed a partnership with the Department of Corrective Services to pilot a therapeutic parenting group, for mothers at Emu Planes Prison’s Jacaranda House.

The aim of these groups is to help women manage the anxieties which arise during motherhood and to alleviate, as much as possible, the impact of these anxieties on the parent-infant relationship.

The group will provide a safe place for the women to think about how their earlier experiences might impact on their ability to care for their child, and
come to terms with past traumas and manage the effects of them, so that they are less likely to be re-enacted in their relationship with their child.

Aims

To support women to manage the transition to parenting particularly in the context of being in Gaol through the provision of therapeutic parenting groups
Assist mothers in gaol to increase their sensitivity and emotional responsiveness to their child
Support mothers in gaol to overcome negative patterns of child rearing and replace them with parenting strategies that are both rewarding for parents and beneficial to their child’s development

Objectives

Mobilise mothers’ inner and outer resources to help them through early parenting
Normalise and contain the mothers’ anxiety
Support mothers to think about their baby as individuals
Make links between mothers’ own childhood experiences and their relationship with their babies
Discuss expectations around parenting
Debrief the experience of labour
Discuss expectations of baby and how parents can assist their child to meet normal developmental challenges

Expected outcomes for parents are:

Greater confidence to deal with their new child
Decrease in parental anxiety, depression and stress
Smoother transitions into mothering in the community

Aboriginal Parenting Groups

PIFA, conducts a group for women who are pregnant or have a child under three and who want to take time to think about their parenting because they are worried that they may have a child removed or because they are working toward restoration of their child/children after removal by Docs.

These are ongoing groups where women can feel safe to talk about whatever is worrying them in their parenting role

Aim
The aim of the group is to help women manage the impact of their own experiences that are impacting on their relationship with their children. The group aims to:

Assist parents to increase their sensitivity and emotional responsiveness to their child
Support parents to overcome negative patterns of child rearing and replace them with parenting strategies that are both rewarding for parents and beneficial to their child’s development

Strategies
This is not a group to instruct mothers in techniques and strategies for parenting but one which will offer:

help to think about how their cultural and individual experiences might impact on their ability to care for their child
support to come to terms with past traumas and manage the effects of them, so that they are less likely to effect their relationship with their children

Indicators

Women in the group will keep their families together at an improved rate compared to other Aboriginal clients of Docs
Women in the group will report increased confidence in parenting
Women in the group will report increased confidence in accessing appropriate community services