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A Parenting Program for High Conflict Parents
Parallel Parenting is a four week (8 hour) class for dual-household parents who are unable or unwilling to co-parent cooperatively. It is the “companion” program forCooperative Parenting . Participants attend Cooperative Parenting prior to participation in Parallel Parenting. This is a “last resort” for parents who must raise their children between two homes but do not have the ability or the willingness to collaborate.
Both programs focus on preventing or minimizing parental conflict following a divorce or family court litigation, but the ideas and practices are different. This table outlines the differences and the similarities.
PARALLEL PARENTING GOALS
1. Understand the co-parenting continuum of choices 2. Accept the role each parent chooses in that continuum 3. Identify personal goals in parallel parenting 4. Understand the features of parallel parenting 5. Demonstrate ability to discriminate among beliefs, feelings, thoughts and actions. 6. Develop parallel parenting skills. 7. Identify the benefits to parents and children when conflict is absent. 8. Review
Week One: v Review of Cooperative Parenting v Orientation to Parallel Parenting: What it is and what it is not v Self assessment using Co-parenting Continuum v Identifying Anger and its triggers v Develop co-parenting goals using worksheet v Assign homework
Week Two: v Homework Review v Accepting Personal Responsibility v Disconnection Strategies v Self Management Techniques v Homework Assignment
Week Three: v Homework Review v Strategies for Thinking in New Ways about Old problems v Creating Parallel Parenting Ground Rules v More about disconnection and anger management v Homework Assignment
Week Four: v Homework Review v Goals and Commitments v Class Review and Graduation |
