Online parenting support

Doubt, guilt, shame, despair... many parents with mental health problems worry about the effect of their problems on the development of their children. This is why the development of a low-threshold internet intervention is viewed as an ideal addition to parenting resources, since parents can participate on an anonymously basis.

Online course for parents
The website 'Kop op ouders' (Chin up, Parents) aims at strengthening protective factors, such as establishing a good parent-child relationship. Parents from the target group can complete an online course of eight structured chat sessions on the website. A maximum of six parents may participate in each course. Under the guidance of trained prevention workers, they share their personal experiences online.

Each session focuses on one or two central topics, such as ‘good enough parenting’ ‘involving your network’, ‘talking to your child about your problem’ and ‘coping with feelings of shame and guilt’. Besides specific disorder-related parenting skills, basic parenting issues are dealt with, such as ‘listening to your child’.

The counsellors behind the e-mail service and the online course are trained prevention workers from the prevention and mental health agencies JellinekMentrum (Arkin), GGNet, Mondriaan Zorggroep and GGZ Oost Brabant.