About Parents Plus

Parents Plus is a charity that trains and mentors those who work in Community, Health, Education and Disability services, to improve outcomes for families, with our evidence-based parenting and mental health programmes.

Throughout the last 10 years, Parents Plus has supported over 1,000 organisations, in Ireland and internationally, to create sustainable change in their service delivery, strengthening over 100,000 families.

Backed by over 25 years of research, our programmes have proven benefits for families, including those dealing with disadvantage, disability and mental health problems, as well as the normal ups and downs of family life.

All profits from sales of programme training and supervision are re-invested in developing new evidence-based programmes to respond to the evolving needs of families and to sponsor facilitator training and support of services with limited budgets, who work with high-need families.



Parents Plus is a Registered Charity CHY 13664.

About our Programmes

Our programs are robustly evidence-based and currently, over 25 studies conducted in clinical, community, and disability settings attest to their effectiveness for families with children and adolescents of all ages, dealing with a variety of challenges and issues.

Our Suite of Eight Programs are systemic, solution-focused, group-based interventions designed for delivery in clinical and community settings as treatment programs. These programmes are designed for families with child-focused problems, such as behavioural difficulties, disruptive behaviour disorders, and emotional disorders in young people with and without developmental disabilities.

These programmes have been developed for families of preschoolers, preadolescent children, and teenagers, as well as for separated or divorced families. Studies involving well over 1,000 families have shown that our programs have a significant impact on child behaviour problems, goal attainment, and parental satisfaction and stress.

The Parents Plus Programme Training for Professionals

The Parent Plus Early Years Programme

There is agreement across practice and policy that children are shaped by their early childhood experiences and that this is a crucial time to provide support to parents to help develop connected responsive relationships with their children.

The focus of the Parents Plus Early Years Programme is to support parents and carers to increase their skills in positively engaging with their children, tuning in to their child’s needs, and responding effectively.



The Parents Plus Children’s Programme

Now in its fourth edition since launching in 2008, The Parents Plus Children’s Programme was developed in collaboration with parents and children who attended groups at the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service in the Mater Hospital, Dublin.

The Parents Plus Children’s Programme is a versatile intervention that can be used in a variety of formats depending on the specific context.

Parents Plus ADHD Children’s programme

The Parents Plus ADHD Children’s programme training for frontline professionals can help prevent serious secondary problems, such as self-harm and substance misuse, from affecting children with ADHD as they grow older. This programme utilises a solution-focused approach with facilitators introducing and exploring topics and parents' problem-solving solutions as a group.

Adolescent Programme Training for Professionals

The Adolescent Programme is practical, solution-focused, and draws on parents' strengths. This evidence-based parenting programme promotes effective communication. Through our programme, parents will learn how to develop warm relationships with their teenagers with the aim of reducing conflict and supporting their teenagers to grow up as well-adjusted and happy adults.

Working Things Out – Youth Mental Health Programme

This programme is evidence-based and promotes positive mental health and communication in families, thus reducing the risk of more entrenched mental health problems amongst young people, especially those who might be vulnerable or identified as at risk.

It aims to build the coping skills of young people and show them how to seek help in a time of crisis.

Parenting When Separated Programme Training

Families going through separation can experience increased isolation and conflict. Separation and divorce constitute stressful transitions in the family life cycle and come with multiple changes associated with separation and its aftermath. With our Parenting When Separated Programme, you can help parents to personally cope and manage these changes, and to co-parent effectively, to ensure their children cope and thrive.

This programme is suitable for professionals including therapists, teachers, and social workers to teach parents who are preparing for, going through, or have gone through a separation or divorce.

Healthy Families Programme Training

Children today are experiencing increased rates of health problems, such as obesity and higher levels of anxiety, and the need to support these children has never been greater.

With our Healthy Families Programme, you can empower parents to create healthy and connected families and improve the well-being of everyone. This Programme has been designed to support and empower parents to make positive lifestyle changes within their families, by adopting a series of healthy habits in areas such as mealtimes, healthy eating, screen time, sleep routines, playtime, and physical activity.



Parents Plus Special Needs Programme

Parents of children with an intellectual disability can face significant challenges, especially during the adolescent years. With our first in the world Special Needs Programme, you can support parents to manage these challenges, improve their family’s well-being and strengthen their links with other parents.