Do you want to be the best parent possible? 

Would you like to develop a positive relationship with your children that lasts a lifetime?

Would you like to help your children develop empathy, resilience, emotional intelligence and consideration?

Parent Effectiveness Training (P.E.T.) is the 'how to' of gentle parenting.

P.E.T. can help if:

You are a parent, carer, grandparent, friend, or relative concerned about children:

• ‘Tantruming’ (older as well as younger children)
• Showing angry, aggressive behaviour
• Crying easily at what others say or do
• Refusing to go to school
• Crying and protesting when others (family or friends) do not agree with them, or when asked to do something they do not want to do.
• Showing anxiety or deep sadness
• Not talking or sharing their thoughts with you
• Appearing shy
• Not wanting to go to bed and stay in bed
• Having too much ‘screen’ time (TV, electronic games, computers etc)
• Poor sibling relationships
  

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Many of the techniques taught in Parent Effectiveness Training can help with these common parent concerns.  Parent Effectiveness Training (P.E.T) helps you to:

• Be the best parent you can
• Have a great relationship with your children, to last a life-time
• Have a calmer, more peaceful household
• Enjoy your children
• Build your skills as a parent
• Raise confident, considerate children in an atmosphere of mutual respect
• Understand your children, and your children to understand you
• Stop those arguments before they start
• Yell less and reduce stress
• Calm the struggle of being a parent, feel more confident
• Learn a new way to handle sibling rivalry
• Stop using rewards and punishments, and instead help your child develop ‘inner discipline’
• Find the middle ground between being a dictator or a doormat

Attending a well-researched, evidence-based course P.E.T. helps your children to:

• Develop empathy, emotional intelligence and resilience
• Change their behaviour out of consideration, rather than compliance
• Learn emotional and social skills, such as conflict resolution

P.E.T. can help if:

• you would like to break the 'parenting cycle' and do things differently from the way you were brought up
• you are separated from your partner, and would like to help your children through the process.  The skills are particularly useful in helping your children through parental high-conflict situations.
• you would like to improve your relationship with your child
• you and your partner want to 'parent on the same page'
• you are in a step/blended family

About Parent Effectiveness Training (P.E.T.)

Parent Effectiveness Training was devised in 1962 by Dr Thomas Gordon, and has been taught around the world. The course aims to improve family relationships by teaching respectful communication skills.  Run over 8 weeks (1x3 hour session per week), the course is highly practical with theory, workbook exercises and (friendly and realistic) role-plays.

For more information on the course and its founding company, please visit www.gordontraining.com. Information on the Australian not-for-profit organisation responsible for overseeing the teaching of P.E.T. can be found on www.etia.org.

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P.E.T. testimonials (see testimonial page for more feedback).

"We attended our first PET course in 1997 when our two boys were 3 and 6 years old.  We had heard about it through our local Montessori school and thought we needed to learn about 'peaceful parenting!'

With much insistence my husband also committed to coming along and this proved invaluable as we were able to go through this experience together and  essentially be on the same page to avoid the good cop/ bad cop scenario.  Twenty years later we continue to naturally present a stable, united, supportive and agreeable front for our children (now young adults) to bounce life's ideas off.

Our course was led by the delightful, amazingly calm and insightful Larissa Dann.  We took home weekly learned strategies to try out in many different scenarios with our children and were completely amazed at the results, not only our own relationships with the boys but between ourselves at a time when we behaved as stressed, edgy and floundering parents.

These have been life long and life affirming skills learnt.  Meaningful, loving relationships between us all that have not only helped mould resilient children but resilient parents too.

Our boys (now aged 22 and 25 years) still joke about how Mum and Dad had to learn how to become parents - and we did!

Only through PET at a critical time in our  family life did we learn to survive and then thrive and really enjoy our children.

Thank heavens - and thank Larissa Dann! An amazing facilitator to kick start our journey."

Andrea and Ben Balthazaar

"Almost on a daily basis am I SO GRATEFUL to have done the PET course. I can talk to my teenager about everything, where I see so many of his friends struggling with their relationships with their parents. It's never too late to do the course!"

K. Mills

"I loved PET training with Larissa - it is gentle, respectful and has had a hugely positive influence on my interactions with my beautiful children who now speak openly about their feelings and share more with me about their days.  I was immediately comfortable with all of its principles and everything I learned made sense straight away to me. This was so valuable in a world of competing parenting advice from web sites, friends and relatives.  I wish all new parents were able to do this wonderful and life changing training. Larissa is easy to talk to and generous with her time and advice."

Christina, mother of 3 and 5 yo children.