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Parent Programs

Check the calendar to see the upcoming programs being offered by Lorraine and to register.

The Mindful Self-Compassion for Parents program is offered in different formats for maximum flexibility:

The 8-week course – consists of 8-weekly 2 ½ -hour sessions with 15 min breaks in a classroom plus a 4-hour retreat. This class is often most easily integrated into our lives and offers an extended opportunity to deepen and solidify our practice.
A 5-day intensive
A 2-day core skills workshop

Mindful Self-Compassion for Parents

Parenting is full of challenges and can lead to emotional exhaustion and caregiver fatigue. Mindfulness and self-compassion can help us navigate this landscape with greater skill and ease. This 2-day core skills training is a combination of empirically based practices from the Mindful Self-Compassion Course and Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction along with developmental and attachment research. It is designed to teach parents the art of being fully present with their child with greater kindness, consideration and compassion.

Many parents and professionals agree that the demands of life affect our ability to practice patience and deep listening with our children. This inattention can contribute to frustration and confusion for both parent and child. By identifying reactive patterns and exploring options for attending to the unplanned stressors in our lives, we can improve our ability to respond skillfully to our own needs and to the needs of our children. In this workshop, we will introduce the foundations of mindfulness and the effects of mindfulness on stress reactivity. We will explore principles of self-compassion as a method for self-care and practice the art of deep listening as a model for teaching kindness and compassion to our children. These essential parenting skills model for our children how to manage their own stressors and live a life greater freedom and enjoyment.

Benefits of Mindful & Compassionate Parenting:

A deeper awareness of your own stress reactions
Respond to difficult emotions with kindness and understanding
An increased ability to respond more skillfully to the unplanned and stressful moments with your child
Learning to listen with kindness and attention to yourself and your child
Learning to problem-solve with your child with patience and wisdom
Increasing your child’s emotional strength and well-being
Improving your child’s capacity to respond with kindness to others
Creating healthier and more productive relationships between family members

Praise for Mindful Parenting Workshop

Here is what participants said:

“This parenting workshop gave me many new tools that I can use to be more effective and happier in my parenting.”
“Instructor encouraging, kind and informative. Style of teaching was relaxed yet content was very useful and applicable in all parenting challenges.”
“I enjoyed this workshop very much. It was presented in a gentle, informative manner.”
“Learning to practice self-compassion has already softened my self-critic. I look forward to stepping more softly in my relationships and nurturing compassionate individuals.”
“It is so helpful to know how universal many/most of our parenting pains are. I learned how to better cope with difficult situations by avoiding harmful reactivity and responding with self-compassion.”