PLEASE NOTE:
All new clients are required to do the 7-session foundational parenting course. This initial set of sessions not only addresses and resolves your current issues but sets you and the children up for the parenting years ahead.
Once you have completed this introductory content you are ‘on the Plum Parenting books’ much like a medical practice, meaning that in the future you can book a single session of any length any time you need.
The foundational sessions are usually 2 to 2½ hours long to allow for in-depth transformation and are normally weekly or fortnightly. You pay only for the time used and any sessions not needed are cancelled without charge.
Sessions 1 and 2 will give you a whole new way to look at your children and child development which will radically change your understanding of child behaviour.
Session 3 will build a comprehensive picture of your child or children out of the question: who is this child and what do they need? In this session we explore the temperaments of every member of the family, uncovering the gifts, challenges and unique needs of each person and how each relates and interacts with the others.
Sessions 4 will teach you the core positive, effective responses and management of all reactive behaviour in children, i.e. the meltdowns in their myriad forms.
Session 5 will show you how to safely navigate your child and family through any scenario, then how to turn stuck negative patterns of behaviour around.
Session 6 and 7 will bring all of the above knowledge and understanding together to create a ‘reset’ for the family with advice and tools for transforming daily life, safeguarding and nurturing the particular children requiring interventive focus, and setting everyone in the family up for success.
If there are several children needing help or there are deeper or ongoing issues you may need further sessions to complete your tool kit and receive adequate support. A family may choose to have ongoing periodic sessions. Most are ‘set on their feet’ and require nothing more unless there is a new issue in later years.
In a 2-parent household or in separated homes where the parents are wishing to work together it is preferable for mentoring to be provided to both parents. However if the other parent cannot attend or does not wish to, we can still proceed with just one parent. In solo parent households if there are other adults in a parenting role you may include them if you wish.
The sessions are without children present. We require full focus. Even with babies present the level of distraction makes it difficult to get new ideas across and help you re-structure. Parents are asked to find care-givers out of the home or at very least in another part of the house.
Please don’t tell the kids about Mary or Plum Parenting! My approach is to nourish and empower you in your parenting and it is better that the children do not know we are meeting or who I am. Some children can refuse to co-operate with changes the parents make if they feel it is ‘because that person told you to say or do that’. We want them to respond to you as their loving, benevolent ‘Captains of the ship’.