This evidence-based program was created by award-winning psychologist and three-time Nobel Peace Prize Nominee, Dr. Thomas Gordon. An 8-week interactive group workshop, P.E.T. will equip you with the communication skills needed to foster a more loving and trusting relationship with your children. You and other parents will learn these skills through a combination of brief content presentation, demonstrations, practice exercises, coaching, and lots and lots of discussion. It is also a wonderful opportunity to form a local parent community of those who are going through similar experiences, and can help each other by providing ongoing support and encouragement.
P.E.T. is not a program that offers one-size-fits-all solutions to address certain undesirable behaviors (ie. the way you get your child to go to sleep at night is …). Every family is different, and every person has different needs. Instead, it focuses on improving the relationship between you and your child, so that you can understand each others needs, and work together to come up with solutions that work for everyone.
After participation in the P.E.T. course, it is expected that parents will have the ability to:
- Understand the Behavior Window
- Distinguish between Acceptable and Unacceptable Behavior
- Determine who “owns the problem” in a given situation
- Recognize when their child needs their help as a skilled listener
- Identify the 12 Roadblocks to Communication
- Avoid the Roadblocks that cause most helping attempts to fail
- Use silence, acknowledgments and door-openers to help their child with a problem
- Active Listen to hear their child’s feelings
- Active Listen to clarify information
- Acknowledge others’ efforts with Appreciative I-Messages
- Prevent problems and conflicts using Preventive I-Messages
- Modify the environment to prevent problems and conflicts
- Determine what to do when a child’s behavior is interfering with the parent’s meeting their needs
- Develop a three-part Confrontive I-Message
- Confront their child’s unacceptable behavior with an I-Message
- Shift gears between I-Messages and Active Listening when appropriate
- Recognize conflict situations
- Avoid the use of Method I and Method II
- Set the stage for Method III Conflict Resolution
- Use Method III to resolve a conflict between the parent and child
- Use Method III to mediate a conflict between others
- Distinguish between Conflicts-of-Needs and Values Collisions
- Handle Values Collisions
- Be able to use the Behavior Window to identify problem ownership and the appropriate skill/s needs to solve the problem
Included with the workshop are a copy of Dr. Thomas Gordon’s Parent Effectiveness Training book, a P.E.T. Participant Workbook, a P.E.T. Participant Certificate, and Dr. Gordon’s Credo.
Please refer to the Class Schedule/Pricing tab for more information, and to sign up!