Heart & Home Parenting Program

Welcome to Heart & Home, a parenting program designed to support parents in creating more ease, connection, and harmony within their families. Our project offers a warm, inclusive community where every parent feels valued, heard, and accepted.

Beyond the Outburst:- Cultivating Calm in Times of Stress

This course delves into the causes and contributing factors behind anger, offering insights into what’s really happening when someone is overwhelmed. Whether you’re addressing your child’s anger, your own, or both, the course will help you understand the underlying stress and equip you with tools to navigate these challenging emotions with greater calm and clarity.

With the course, there will be a variety of ways to enable learning, including:

● Short talks

● Powerpoint presentations

● Hand-outs

● Videos

● Small group work in break-out rooms

● Individual exercises

● Reflections as a group

It is set up to be a friendly space, where everyone feels welcome and there is a sense of ‘mattering’. Sara sees her role as a facilitator, not just a tutor, and leads the session in a way that encourages discussion and reflection.

There will be lots of opportunities to explore your own personal parenting challenges. You will be introduced to new concepts but – more importantly – you will learn how to integrate these new ideas into your life when you go home.

 

We’ll explore topics such as:

  • Brain science and what happens when stress turns into anger. Learn how stress overloads the brain’s ability to cope, often leading to outbursts, and understand what’s happening in the brain during these moments.

  • The connection between thoughts, feelings, and actions. Discover how our mental patterns influence emotional reactions and behaviors.

  • Recognising triggers in yourself and your child. Develop skills to identify the early signs of anger and intervene before it escalates.

  • How childhood experiences with anger shape adult reactions. Understand how your past experiences with anger influence your current responses, both as a parent and as an individual.

  • Empathic listening and emotional support. Learn to support yourself and your child in expressing intense emotions in healthy, non-harmful ways.

  • Managing your own intense emotions. Build a personal toolbox for handling difficult feelings without acting out, and develop strategies for self-regulation during moments of stress.

  • Using EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) and mindfulness. Explore how tapping on acupuncture meridian points and mindfulness practices can help reduce stress and bring more calm to challenging situations.

  • Consciously responding to anger. Instead of reacting impulsively or in ways that harm your relationship with your child or yourself, learn how to respond with greater calm and intention, fostering healthier, more positive outcomes.

Individual Parenting Coaching

 Individual parenting coaching, an optional  part of the Heart and Home Parenting Program, provides a supportive space for parents to explore their unique situations following the four-week course on stress and anger. Through compassionate inquiry, parents gain deeper insight into what’s happening beneath the surface for both themselves and their child. The intention of these sessions is to foster greater understanding and, from this awareness, discover new ways to approach challenges that bring more connection, ease, and harmony into family life.

Ongoing Support Sessions

Another optional aspect of the course is support sessions that follow the main program. You can deepen your learning through facilitated group sessions, available as an extra after the course concludes. These sessions offer ongoing opportunities to share experiences, celebrate successes, and discuss any challenges in a safe and supportive environment.

The program will finish December 2024

The Heart & Home Program is limited to just 12 parents so book soon.
TO BOOK text your name and number to  Sara at 087 7189 620 and you will receive a google form to fill out to register for the course

 

Please scroll down for further information on funding. 

The Heart and Home Parenting Program will be held at St. Brigid’s Community Centre in Ballintra. It is designed and led by Sara Anderson, a Life Coach and Wellbeing Facilitator.

 

THE PROGRAM IS FREE 

thanks to a fully funded grant received by St. Brigid’s Community Centre from the Supporting Parents Program through the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration, and Youth.