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The Parent Effectiveness Training (PET) program was created in 1962 by award-winning psychologist and three-time Nobel Peace Prize Nominee, Dr. Thomas Gordon. Gordon Training International (GTI) was established by Dr. Thomas Gordon, and his Parent Effectiveness Training program was the first skills based parenting program in the world. It is the most successful parenting program in the world - more than 1 million people in 43 countries have benefited from the skills. Please refer to http://www.gordontraining.com/parentingclass.html
The program was translated into Afrikaans in 1981 as “Doeltreffende Ouerskapleiding (DOL).”
The programme has been regularly revised with up-to-date examples, new content and more.
The PET program is unique in that it is focused on ordinary parents with ordinary children (nowadays we have access to experts in all fields for serious problems). The informative program teaches practical communication and conflict handling skills, so equiping parents for their most important task – raising emotionally balanced children.
“The most important factor in a child’s life is emotional intelligence” - Daniel Goleman, ‘Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ’. He refers to learned capabilities that must be worked on and developed to achieve outstanding performance: Self-awareness, Self-management (involves controlling one's emotions and impulses and adapting to changing circumstances), Social awareness and Relationship management — the ability to inspire, influence, and develop others while managing conflict.
Thus to be ‘emotionally intelligent’ is to have a huge advantage in life. Parents can assist their children to become emotionally competent by using the skills taught by the PET program.
This program has the advantage over listening to a talk or reading a book through the practical presentation there-of. Parents hear and read about ideas such as ‘listen to your child’, ‘establish a good relationship’, ‘enhance your child’s self-image’, ‘rear a responsible child’, ‘teach your child self-discipline’, etc. The problem lies in the practical application of these theoretical expectations. Nobody explains to parents how to practical execute this. During the PET program, parents are empowered to attain these expectations by learning how to talk in the correct manner. “How successful you are as a parent, will depend on the way you speak to your child” - Dr Thomas Gordon, Parent Effectiveness Training.
An extremely important aspect of the program is to teach parents to convert conflict to a win-win situation. It has become really important to change our children’s conflict perception from violence and punishment to long-term peaceful solutions.
How you and your family will benefit:
- Your children will feel free to discuss their problems and concerns with you instead of withdrawing.
- They will learn self-discipline, self-control and an inner sense of personal responsibility.
- You will learn how to work with each other instead of against each other.
- You'll experience fewer angry outbursts and more problem-solving.
- Everyone can participate in rule-setting so all will feel motivated to comply with the rules.
- Fewer power struggles--less tension, less resentment, more fun, more peace, more love.
What you will learn
- How to talk to your children so that they will listen to you (I-MESSAGES).
- How to listen to your children so they feel genuinely understood (ACTIVE LISTENING).
- How to avoid blocking communication (COMMUNICATION ROADBLOCKS).
- How to resolve conflicts and problems in your family so that no one loses and problems stay solved (THE WIN-WIN METHOD).
- A method for troubleshooting family problems and dealing constructively with values collisions, knowing which skills to use to solve them (CONSULTING SKILLS).
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