Table 1.

Overview of programme sessions

Session	Activities/explorations	Home exercise suggestions
Session 1: Creativity and Play	Mind–Body Centring exercise Getting to know each other with an improvisation game and music First exploration round: what concerns do we have regarding the parenting of our children? Reflecting on feelings, thoughts and body sensations Psycho-education on ‘play’ and the value of ‘creativity’ Group exploration: what do you do for fun/quality time with your family? What excited you as a child? Group activity: in small groups, designing together a variety of games based on given props (scarf, newspaper, etc.) Closing reflection on use of creativity and play with adolescents	Find new ways to be playful with your family, thinking about when (for instance during dish-washing or dinner) and how (following the initiative of your child, or starting something yourself) Write a few sentences on what new outcomes were imagined about the relationship and how it felt to be creative and open about the direction of the interaction between you and your child
Session 2: Self-Awareness and Bonding	Mind–Body Centring exercise Troubleshooting: how did the ‘take home’ exercise go? Drama therapy exercise for bonding & relating. ‘A dialogue with the back’, (Pendzik n.d., p. 3) Psycho-education on Bonding. Introduction to the Still Face experiment video (Tronick et al. 1975) Individual activity: reflecting on own childhood, ‘safe attachment’ with parents and IWM (in what ways were we nurtured vs. hurt?) Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) to learn as a self-healing technique Closing round of reflection: what are the ways in which you connect with your child?	Continue to explore what happens when you connect with your child in various contexts during the week Reflect on what emotions you recognize in them, and how this makes you feel How do you usually respond? And what happens when you pay more attention to your own internal processes?
Session 3: Communication 1	Mind–Body Centring exercise Trouble-shooting and reflection on process so far Introduction to Communication: NVC and Faber and Mazlish Group activity around universal emotions and needs [Non Violent Communication (NVC)] Group activity with vignettes: act out scenes and break down communication patterns through role-plays. Faber and Mazlish (2004) Closing with EFT	Hand-outs on the subject of ‘emotions and needs’ (NVC). Practise by silently tuning into the emotions and needs of your child in the coming week See if you can sometimes make an educated guess about what your child might need in certain situations
Session 4: Communication 2 + Closure	Mind–Body Centring exercise Final Trouble-shooting session Continue with practising different conflict scenarios by incorporating creativity, bonding and communication in problem-solving behaviours. Parents bring in hypothetical real-life conflicts with their children, and are guided to use what they have learned to introspect, act and reflect in better ways Closure of the programme: what have we learned and what do we look forward to?	No take home exercises