E  M  P  A  T  H  Y  =  S  A  F  E  T  Y

AVERT for Parents
Child Abuse Prevention Program
In collaboration with the San Luis Obispo County Probation Department in California

The Avert Project for parents functions under the notion that unless a parent is capable of honestly experiencing him/herself in the shoes of their child while taking disciplinary action they run the risk of abusing their parental role and inflicting harm on their child. Teaching parents how to have an empathic response toward their children when disciplining is at the heart of this program.  Participants learn the difference between feelings and behaviors and how they interact to contribute to appropriate vs. dysfunctional parenting.  Parents learn the significance of their anger and how to manage it appropriately when parenting their children and relating to others.  Participants are allowed to explore their own histories of family abuse/violence and how that may have contributed to the behavior that brought them to our program. Parents will have the opportunity to share, process, and explore new ways of behaving with their children and others that will exclude the need for abusive/violent behavior while encouraging them to express themselves freely and appropriately. Through the use of sophisticated role-reversal techniques the parents learn what it’s like to walk in the shoes of their children and the powerful effect they exert on their children when carrying out disciplinary action.