Today's families are faced with a multitude of challenges that place great demands on their resources. Families dealing with issues such as conflict, family breakdown and street-involved youth face even greater challenges. Strengthening family systems can provide support for meeting these demands and for encouraging the healthy emotional and physical growth of family members.
At St. Leonard’s, we recognize that a healthy family environment is an important factor in promoting positive behaviour in youth. We also understand that parents need support for the challenging task of raising a child. That’s why we offer parental education and support services, which help build strength in families by encouraging positive and healthy interactions between family members.
Parental Support Services
We provide services to support parents within the family, building on family strengths while assisting them to develop the skills and knowledge necessary to address their own needs.
Parental support services include:
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Effective parenting practices
We help parents learn effective parenting practices for teenagers, including problem-solving skills and discipline techniques. Working together with parents, we help them develop positive approaches to behavior management. Parents learn how to set limits, use praise and reinforcement, reduce negative parent-youth interactions, and use negotiating and mediation skills.
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Conflict resolution and crisis management
We help parents learn non-adversarial conflict resolution techniques and assist them in developing effective communications skills to resolve conflicts in the family. We also provide support to manage and anticipate crisis situations.
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Parent-teen communication skills development
We provide services for parents and teens which help strengthen family and individual relationships. We assist parents and teens in improving their communications skills and teach them the importance of listening to each other. We also help them to understand and respect one another’s needs.
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Group parenting programs
We provide group parenting programs, including a peer support group, which focuses on sharing, support and problem solving. A strength-based approach is used within all group activities. Various resource materials have been used to support group activities including the book “How to Deal with Your Acting Up Teenager” and a structured parenting program called “Developing Capable Young People” - a training program designed to increase the effectiveness of families in developing personal strengths among youth.
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Access to community resources
Our parental support services help link parents and families to community resources that can provide assistance in areas such as immigration and settlement, tenant rights, training, employment, education, and income assistance. We also help parents connect to recreation and health services in the community.
Interested In Learning More?
Please contact us at 604-298-1515 to learn more about our parental support services.