Programs:

“I felt that for every instance of reported child abuse there would be at least one hundred parents whose cries for help could only be recognized and responded to by offering them preventive support in a non-judgmental anonymous setting.”                     

- Mike Turner, Co-Founder of Parents Helping Parents

Parents Helping Parents pursues its child abuse prevention mission by providing two free parent support services:1) a 24-hour parent helpline that provides telephone counseling and information and referral to parents; and 2) a network of anonymous and confidential Parent Support Groups that meet in many locations throughout Massachusetts.  These services complement each other.  That is, parents can call the Parental Stress Line for 24-hour parenting help and may choose to join weekly Parent Support Groups for ongoing support.  Both programs are anonymous, confidential, and uniquely suited to support parents who are feeling isolated, overwhelmed, or hesitant to ask for help from people they know. 

The Parental Stress Line uses a strengths-based approach in assisting callers, providing support to draw on callers’ inner strengths and information and referrals to link callers to community resources.  In each call, our volunteer Counselors listen as the caller relates his or her concerns, and then tailor the parenting information and support to fit the unique needs of the caller’s situation.  Counselors use a reflective listening model to meet the caller’s emotional needs and ask open-ended questions to empower the caller to develop his or her own plan of action.  Rather than providing callers with advice, volunteer Counselors assist them in thinking through the steps that will help them move toward their identified goal.

Parents Helping Parents provides ongoing parenting help through our Massachusetts network of Parent Support Groups.  A trained volunteer Facilitator helps the group stay strengths-based and makes sure that each group member has an opportunity to talk.  Parent Support Groups are designed to achieve three goals: 1) Reduce social isolation by bringing parents together in a well-functioning group; 2) Help parents become more aware of how their emotions affect their behavior; and 3) Help parents improve their parenting skills and develop shared parenting suggestions.   All of these are achievable by attending a Parent Support Group that consists of non-judgmental peers who are dedicated to helping one another as well as themselves.  

Parent Support Groups operate according to the following principles:

• Ownership: The group belongs to the parents;
• Confidentiality:  Everything that is said in the group, stays in the group;
• Anonymity: Only first names are used in group ;
• Non-Violence: Our groups promote only non-violent interactions with family members;
• Reporting: Authorities are contacted about child abuse only after involving the parent and the entire Parent Support Group;
• Substance Abuse: Parents can only participate in meetings if they are clean and sober; and
• Parent Leadership Parents are encouraged to assume leadership roles in the group, in the larger organization of Parents Helping Parents, and in their communities.