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Parenting Advice and Support

by Margaret Hannah, M.Ed, Executive Director, Freedman Center for Child and Family Development at The Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology

Parenthood can bring joy and sorrow, challenges and successes. It can make one feel proud, tired, delighted, bored, and overwhelmed - sometimes all at once. It is not uncommon for a parent to neglect his/her own needs while focusing on those of the child. As it has often been said, parenting is the most important, most wonderful, and most difficult job ever.

Most parents are eager to do a good job. But it seems there is always something to learn: a new technique to try, a different struggle to overcome. Just when a parent feels competent and confident about an appropriate parenting style or technique, the child changes. Confidence and competence may be replaced by feelings of bewilderment and betrayal, as the parent needs to re-think, re-learn, or re-invent his/her approach. How can mothers and fathers learn to enjoy this constantly-evolving parenting puzzle?

It is important to have a plan. [More]

NOTE: Choose a location before choosing a topic to limit results to organizations relevant to residents of that community.

Resource Organizations » Parenting Advice and Support

14 listing(s), including 1 with hotlines and 7 offering support groups

In Massachusetts

Parents Helping Parents and Parental Stress Line

Since 1972, when the organization was founded as Parents Anonymous Organization of Massachusetts, Parents Helping Parents (PHP) has offered hope and support to thousands of parents. PHP's mission is to promote and support healthy parent/child relationships and break the cycle of child abuse through peer-led, professionally facilitated mutual help groups, which provide a nurturing, non-judgmental environment in which to improve family relationships. The parental stress line is free and confidential and is available to parents 24/7 for support and guidance.

Families First Parenting Programs

Families First Parenting Programs builds positive relationships between parents and their children by educating both families and the professionals who serve them through hands-on workshops.

Family Nurturing Center of Massachusetts

Nurturing Programs bring parents and children together to learn, have fun, and build supportive relationships with other community families. The Family Nurturing Center works in partnerships with others to offer a variety of Nurturing Programs in Boston and across Massachusetts. We use the original curriculum (Nurturing Program for Parents and Children), as well as several adaptations (Prenatal, Teen Parent, Nurturing Fathers, Nurturing Program for Families in Recovery), and we have developed our own specialized programs to meet the needs of the communities we serve (Nurturing Our Babies, Birth and Foster Family, Cape Verdean Nurturing Program).

Family Service of Greater Boston

The vision of Family Service of Greater Boston is to be Boston's premier provider of family development and support services for Boston's poor and working poor families. We achieve this vision through our sustained commitment to programmatic excellence in the areas of family formation, family wellness and family coping skills. By embracing the critical role of "community laboratory," Family Service partners with families by offering services that are innovative, informed by research, practical and support the best of the human spirit.

Father Friendly Initiative, Boston Public Health Commission

The Father Friendly Initiative (FFI), is a "one stop" service designed to reintegrate the father into the family, specifically targeting men who have child support, custody/visitation, or court involved issues. FFI uses a holistic approach and offers a comprehensive case management program designed to accommodate the psychological, physical and social support needs of those men falling within the low to no-income range.

Needham Health Department

The Needham Health Department offers a range of mental health services for citizens of the town. Public Health Nurses provide confidential counseling and referrals to all ages. Short-term home-based services for at-risk teenagers and their families are provided through Riverside Community Care's Alternative Youth Services program. The program includes family counseling, advocacy, information, and referral. Call the Health Department for more information on these free services. The town's Substance Abuse Prevention and Education program provides informational programs, educational resources, and confidential substance abuse support services for Needham youth, adults, and seniors. Contact Carol Read at the Health Department to find out more about inpatient and outpatient treatment, individual and group counseling, and peer support resources regarding substance abuse, addiction and chemical dependency.

Needham Youth Services

This is a town-funded department which provides professional and confidential mental health services to youth and their families in Needham. It offers support, information, and direction on issues such as peer relationships, stress, grief and loss, substance use, suicide, and other concerns. Most services are free of charge. The department collaborates regularly with civic and community organizations on a variety of projects.

Nurturing Fathers Program, Family Nurturing Center of Massachusetts

Offers a structured group that dads can participate in to get a better understanding of themselves and their roles in the family. Each group explores family patterns in fathering, families as a team sport, problem-solving with co-parent, fathering sons and daughters, work and fathering, and many other issues. Each session allows ample time for participants to share their experiences. The groups are facilitated by nurturing fathers once a week for 13 weeks and meet in various locations around Boston.

One Tough Job, Massachusetts Children's Trust Fund

The Massachusetts Children's Trust Fund created One Tough Job to support parents by providing them with current, reliable, and practical information on a variety of parenting topics related to raising children from infancy through adolescence. We aim to provide a general overview of topics, drawing from a variety of reputable and reliable sources.

Parent-Child Home Program

The Parent-Child Home Program is a research-based and research-validated early childhood literacy and school readiness program. The Program successfully strengthens families and prepares children for academic success through intensive home visiting. The Program has a proven record in Massachusetts since 1970 when the first sites opened in Pittsfield, Newton, and Cambridge. Currently there are 34 sites from Pittsfield to Boston serving over 1500 families, living at or below the poverty line, in their homes, homeless shelters, and family child care homes.

Parent/Professional Advocacy League (PAL)

PAL promotes a strong voice for families of children and adolescents with mental health needs. PAL advocates for supports, treatment and policies that enable families to live in their communities in an environment of stability and respect.

Room to Grow

Room to Grow's innovative program provides parents raising babies in poverty with one-on-one parenting support and essential baby items throughout their children's critical first three years of life.

Think:Kids

Think:Kids is a program in the Department of Psychiatry at the non-profit Massachusetts General Hospital that trains adults in a revolutionary new way of helping kids with social, emotional, and behavioral challenges. Think:Kids aims to dramatically improve society's understanding and treatment of challenging kids. Think:Kids achieves these goals by disseminating and implementing an innovative, proven approach described in the book, Treating Explosive Kids: The Collaborative Problem Solving Approach.

The CPS model conceptualizes challenging behavior as the result of difficulty with crucial thinking skills; thus, unlike traditional models of discipline, the model eschews power, control, and motivational procedures and focuses instead on identifying and teaching challenging kids the skills they lack.

Parents: Want to find resources in your area? Looking to start or join a support group? Having a hard time getting started with Plan B? Post confidentially on My Think:Kids or search for users in your area with similar interests to connect with.

There are all kinds of resources right here to help you learn more about this new way of understanding and helping kids. You can read the Basics of our approach right here on the site. You can return to our blog for more advanced topics. We're also pleased to offer online training videos right here as well.

WarmLines

WarmLines is a private, not-for-profit organization based in Newton since 1978, which provides programs, resource information, and support services for families, educators, and employee groups. In August, 2008, WarmLines became a subsidiary of The Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology (MSPP) as part of the Freedman Center for Family and Child Development. WarmLines offers New Mothers and New Parents groups, child care and day camp referrals, special topic support groups, and workshops for parents and early childhood educators. WarmLines is also a key partner in Project INTERFACE, a local mental health initiative focusing on children and families.

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Additional Sources of Information

In addition to the parenting organizations and publications listed on this site, your child's pediatrician, school counselors, and your school's Parent-Teacher Organization/Association may have helpful advice to offer.

Guides from Project INTERFACE

For Parents of Younger Children

• Tips and Tactics about Bullying for Parents
• Specific Strategies to Teach Your Child to Deal with Teasing
• What Should Parents Expect of Their Pediatrician when They Are Worried about a Child's Emotional Health?
• Medication and Children

For Parents of Older Children

• Tips for Parents of Teens
• Websites Especially for Teens
• Parenting Teens Info (blog)
• Drinking, Drugs and Depression: Tips for Parents
• Psychologically Speaking... with Dr. Lynn Margolies
  • When Good Intentions Fall Short
  • A Boy Divided
  • Teens and Internet Pornography
  • Bonding with your teen: a hidden opportunity
  • Letting yourself see beneath the surface with your teen
  • Know your limits: a prom primer for parents

From The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)

• Who's Using Alcohol?, information from SAMHSA's National Household Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH)
• Sample Family Alcohol Contract

General Resources

Cradles to Crayons provides low-income and homeless children the basic essentials they need to be safe, warm, ready to learn, and valued. Through partnerships with social service agencies, serves tens of thousands of children in need each year. 617-471-8417 or cradlestocrayons.org.

Overwhelmed No More. Personalized parent support and education for individuals, schools, and organizations from special needs parent coach Joan Celebi.  This website offers tips, info, ideas, and resources to help you successfully navigate life as a parent of a child with special needs.

Publications

List of books, articles and other publications on Parenting Advice and Support.

36th Annual National Suicide Prevention Week, September 5th - 11th, 2010. See Families, Community Systems and Suicide, from the American Association of Suicidology.

In Crisis?
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Need a referral? Call us at 617-332-3666 x 411.

Tools for Providers

Site Map

Can't find what you need or need a referral to a mental health practitioner?
Call 617-332-3666 x 411

The work of Project INTERFACE is supported in part by the Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Project (MCPAP).