Incredible Years Parent Management Training

Incredible Years Parent Management Training is a treatment programme for parents of young school aged children with emotional, mental and behavioural problems. It is delivered to parents within a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS), where many children display symptoms of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and/or Oppositional Defiant Disorder. The programme is designed to help reduce children’s aggression and behaviour problems, and to increase their social competence at home and at school. This book describes the programme, reviews literature on its effectiveness and reports on the analysis of interviews with some parents who were enrolled in it. From grounded theory methodology, five themes reflected an analogy of a war zone describing the emotional and social processes of parents’ experiences. They included entrapment, under siege, combat and battle fatigue leading to new meanings, actions and preservation, wherein parents attempted to retain their learning and gains from the course. The findings and discussion would be of interest to clinicians, researchers and parents who wish to understand the dynamic processes involved in dealing with difficult children.