Mindful Parenting

Course Overview 

The "Mindful Parenting" course is an evidence-based program developed by Professor Susan Bögels and Kathleen Restifo of the Netherlands. This course places the practices and attitudes of mindfulness at the heart of parent-child interactions. Through everyday examples, you will learn how to break free from old patterns and parent from a calmer, more compassionate, and loving place. 

Throughout this course, delivered in weekly sessions, you will practice how to:

• Listen with full attention.

• Cultivate compassion and nonjudgmental acceptance.

• Develop emotional awareness of both yourself and your child.

• Promote self-regulation in the parenting relationship.

Course Structure 

The course is group-based and spans eight weeks, with weekly sessions designed to reduce parental stress, improve parent-child relationships, and reduce problem behaviors of their children. Each session lasts for 2.5 hours.

The content for the eight sessions are:

1. Parenting on automatic pilot

2. Parenting with a beginner’s mind

3. Connecting with the body

4. Dealing with versus reacting to parenting stress

5. Parenting patterns

6. Conflicts and parenting

7. Love and limits

8. Are we there yet? A mindful parenting path

A certificate will be issued when the participant has completed at least 80% of the course.

What to Expect

• Companions: Join a diverse group of parents who also hope to improve their quality of life through mindfulness.

• Structured Sessions: Each of the 8 group sessions has its own theme and follows a consistent pattern.

• Guided Practices: Each session includes guided mindfulness exercises, followed by guided discussions to reflect on the insights gained.

• Ongoing Practice: You are encouraged to continue practicing mindfulness between each taught session.

  • Daily Practice: Recordings for the main practices will be provided, and 45 minutes of practice each day.

  • Integration: This involves a mixture of following the recordings of guided practices and bringing mindful awareness into your everyday activities.

• Practice Reviews and Sharings: Sessions will include reviews of your personal practice from the previous week to support your ongoing development.There will be space for you to share your experiences of the home practices from the previous week, with the weekly theme woven into the discussion.

• Support Materials: Access guided practices and written materials to support your learning throughout the course.
  

Join this transformative journey to cultivate mindfulness, enrich the well-being of you and your family, and bring a greater sense of balance and fulfillment to your parenting and daily life.