Nurturing Parenting

Domain V · Systemic, relational, group & community · Stephen J. Bavolek · 1984

What it is

Nurturing Parenting is not a single therapy. It is a family of structured, sequenced, competency-based psycho-educational parenting curricula. They are built to prevent and treat child abuse and neglect at three levels: primary (education), secondary (intervention) and tertiary (treatment). Parents…

Format

• Primary prevention (education): about 5–12 sessions. Examples: Prenatal (9 group or 18 home sessions), community stand-alone lessons.
• Secondary prevention (intervention): about 12–20 sessions, set by assessed need. Examples: Nurturing Skills for Families, Nurturing Fathers (13 sessions).

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Body, safety, stress and family life (sessions 20–26). Bodies, sex and saying no; stress and behaviour management; anger and alternatives to spanking; possessive and violent relationships and power struggles; alcohol, drugs and smoking; criticism versus confrontation and problem solving; ignoring and toilet training.
• Posttest and closure (session 27, or home sessions 6–7). Posttest, review of profiles against the original plan and the Family Nurturing Plan competencies, plans for continued support, hopes and fears revisited, and certificates.
• Delivering it under its name

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• The checklist items are completed.
• Desired behaviours increase in the log.
• Children can state the plan and the password.
• Parents use the newly taught skill unprompted.
• The family solves a recurring conflict this way.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.