Parents involved in court proceedings about their children are invariably ordered by the court to attend a SPIP – Separated Parents Information Programme. Often, the parents are offended by the suggestion that they need information on being a parent and baulk against having to attend. However, the purpose of the programme is not to teach parenting skills but to help them understand how to put the children first when they are in dispute with each other. It is very difficult to put feelings about each other to one side and concentrate on the effect on the children
The course is a four hour session with a mixed group of parents, but the separated couple will not attend the same session
Most parents want the best for their children but sometimes struggle to implement this when they have different views and the course enables parents to consider the emotional effect on the children and offers options on dealing with this. It considers children’s needs and the impact of parental conflict on them. Very importantly, it looks at parental communication and how to react under stress
Apart from the fact that courts often order parents to attend, it is a very helpful course in understanding the effects of a dispute about them, on the children the dispute is about