10 years of the Psychology of Parenting Programme

10 years of the Psychology of Parenting Programme

In November, the parenting workstream, in the Psychology Directorate, held an event to celebrate 10 years of the Psychology of Parenting Programme (PoPP).

The event particularly focussed on:

• the hard work of PoPP practitioners, coordinators and champions who provide evidence-based parenting supports to parents across Scotland
• the programme’s partnership work with staff across the country in support of infant mental health

In 2013 the parenting workstream began supporting the delivery of The Incredible Years and Level 4 Group Triple P parenting groups. And has since expanded to include groups for parents of school age children and adolescents and support staff who work with infants with a diverse range of trainings including the Solihull Approach.

The event started with introductory remarks from colleagues in Scottish Government, Chair of the NES Board and the Director in NES Psychology, who all helped set the context of our work within early intervention.

Speakers included practitioners talking about the variety of their work, Professor Matt Sanders, founder of Triple P and Carolyn Webster-Stratton, founder of The Incredible Years.

Feedback from the event highlighted the value of hearing about successes in delivery across Scotland as well as networking and learning from others. Many people said they enjoyed the variety of speakers and said they found the event inspiring and it had reinvigorated their enthusiasm for the interventions.

Camilla Dyer, Programme Director, NES Psychology said:

“Everyone especially seemed to enjoy hearing from parents about the impact attending a PoPP supported group has had on their family. This included one of the PoPP coordinators sharing her experience of the journey she has taken, from being a parent in an Incredible Years group to delivering the groups and now coordinating all the groups in her area.

“Hearing the impact of the work completed over the last years was such an important reminder of why we do the work we all do. The successful partnership working across Scotland and across health, social care and education remains one of the reasons why PoPP and Infant Mental Health continues to be able to offer these high-quality interventions to the parents in Scotland. The team is looking forward to continuing this work over the next 10 years.”

Parents who have attended the Incredible Years or Triple P groups have commented:

“My household feels much calmer since doing the Incredible Years course…I feel like I’ve learnt so much from the group and feel equipped with the new tools that I’ve learnt at home now.”

“His behaviour has improved hugely since I started [the Incredible Years course]… I feel like we have a closer relationship.”

“The tools we have learned here has been a massive help with his social communication…it helps him be more confident and helps his social interactions…”

“I really enjoyed being in the group setting. I ended up making friends and it was just really nice to get out and sit with other mums who were going through the same things that I was.”

If you would like to know more about the Parenting workstream please contact us at psychology@nes.scot.nhs.uk

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