The East Lancashire Child and Adolescent Service (ELCAS) is celebrating the graduation of local parents who completed the first Incredible Years parenting programme.
Following successful completion of the 12-week programme, 20 parents attended a special Incredible Years ceremony at Burnley General Teaching Hospital where they were each presented with certificates of achievement.
“The Incredible Years programme is about building a better relationship with your child and working on behaviours you want to see more of,” explained ELCAS Mental Health Practitioner Parenting, Majda Amin.
“Having worked with schools and other services within Pendle and Burnley, we were overwhelmed with the number of parents who wanted to attend.”
“Incredible Years helps parents to understand their child’s challenging behaviour and helps them realise they are not on their own.”
Majda and her colleague Shazia Khan have completed an Improving Access to Psychological Therapies – Parenting (IAPT) post graduate diploma this is a new role that sits within the Primary mental health team.
More parents in East Lancashire will benefit from the Incredible Years programme with new groups being set up across the area in the coming months.
“We know that being a parent can be both rewarding and challenging,” said Shazia. “Incredible Years is here to support parents and help them build a strong and secure relationship with their child.”
Judging by the positive comments from parents attending the first group, Incredible Years has been a great success:
· “He’s much calmer, he doesn’t have as many tantrums. We have a better relationship now”
· “my child is more calmer and listens to me and others”
· “I have benefited in a big way. I have a better bond with my son. The house hold is a lot calmer.”
· “I benefitted from this programme. I am calmer and more relaxed.”
· “I have bonded with my child and learnt ways to help him.