This Master Training certification offers practitioners a field-tested guide to working with
parents in providing support, information and motivation in areas of life skills, parenthood,
relationships (including exploring marriage and team parenting), and health. In addition to improving a child’s well-being, the coparenting focus has the potential to increase fathers’ engagement in parenting. The
curriculum also offers a methodology for training and learning, and assessment tools.
The curriculum sessions are organized around four areas of content:
Personal Development begins with team-building activities and continues with
discussions of values, defining manhood/womanhood, and life skills. Parents are
encouraged to consider their own values and how they communicate them to their
children as well as messages that society and their own families send them about what
it means to be a man/woman and father/mother.
Life Skills includes skill-building sessions on communication, decision-making, and
dealing with stress. A key theme here is that the ability of individuals to live satisfying,
productive lives depends largely on their effectiveness as communicators and decisionmakers.
Responsible Parenting, the heart of the curriculum, focuses on the important role that
parents play in the lives of their children. Topics covered include the roles and
responsibilities of mothers and fathers, the impact mothers and fathers each have on
the way their children develop, and what to expect from children at different stages of
development.
Healthy Relationships further explores ways to communicate effectively and helps
participants gain the motivation and skills needed to establish a more positive
(functional) relationship with the child's other parent and family. Activities centered
around this topic will help parents learn to manage their anger, resolve conflicts and
negotiate relationships with others in their lives, particularly those who can support
them as mothers and fathers.
