Testimonials

Participants from the 'Being your child's life coach' course for parents of teenagers say ..

 Joe      Joe Thomas,  marketing professional in Mumbai, has a son of 13 and a 4 year old daughter -- "Various parenting concepts and techniques on adolescent developmental needs, effective communication and self-regulation were very helpful. It was good to have these reflected with examples and group discussions. I’ve realised it is me who has to change more than my kid. Your manual is a great learning tool! Practice and patience will make me apply the concepts better in real life.The exchange of ideas with colleagues who were open and their children being in the varying age groups made the group a connected one. I am a PPT guy, but these sessions were very helpful and the free flowing format helped. I relate to the course format to manage people across all ages as well."
 Sheetal  SHEETAL PARAKH is a Graphic Designer residing in Chennai, mother of 13 and 12 year olds -- “I would have never seen so many points of view concerning the development of the adolescent on my own. There are so many effective options to deal with the various situations with our children. I found empathizing with the children and empathizing with oneself a powerful concept to imbibe.I think patience to go through the steps of communication can sometimes be hard.Most of the stress of parenting spreads across other relationships, and so handling this well means bettering those relationships as well. Just knowing that everyone is struggling now and then made us bond in the group.”
PRITI MAHESH DHOKA is a mother of a 17 year old and she helps in her family business in Pune -- "The awareness from this programme has helped me in other aspects of life too, the journey had just begun! I got to know better ways to deal and relate with my child. The most powerful concept I got from the sessions was ‘to be patient and understand and respect your child and he will cooperate with you, if you can co-work with him'."

She felt the breakout room discussions were very useful, because ‘we were all participants on a similar page and were therefore able to connect.’ 
MAGESH & HEMA, working professionals in Doha, have two sons, 18 & 15 years old

Magesh -
"The parenting teenagers course gave very good insight about teen brain structure, various tools of communication to building cooperation, problem-solving and build inner discipline. It helped me have a healthy relationship with my children and connect with them. I found the perspective of other teen parents very useful".

Hema -
"The course has helped me understand that teens
 are much more emotional, when they are in the middle brain and it has brought down my temper a great deal. It has definitely increased empathy towards my kids."

lerin LERIN ZACHARIA, GM Marketing Yokohoma India, residing in Mumbai, has a 16 year old daughter and 20 year old son --  “The program has been an eye opener. The sessions helped me understand why my child reacts in a particular way and how to deal with them in that moment.
The concept of how the brain is differently wired during the teenage years especially the dominance of the middle brain. Understanding this helps me become more empathetic towards my children.
Getting the child to collaborate and come to a joint conclusion on a decision that we both want is a challenge. I felt connected to the group as our children were in the same stages of adolescence.”

Shefalii SHEFALII DADABHOY likes to call herself  a ‘food artisan’ working flexible hours, residing in Chennai, and a mother of 13 and 9 year old tweens -- "From the Parenting teens course -I learnt a whole new world of positive parenting and guiding my children with options and empathy using patience and love for my children as well as myself. From this course I also learned some communication techniques and relationship skills that for sure work with children -- as well as with everyone else, because they are based on common elements of positive approaches, encouragement, genuine listening and heartfelt human connection. What I also value is our whatsapp group of parents who’ve decided to keep in touch and act as sounding boards for each other. I recommend this course to every parent that wishes to become a better parent."

 Priyanka PRIYANKA ARORA CHOPRA is a stay at home parent of a 13 & 7 year old, residing in Singapore -- "The programme helped me ‘very useful in understanding my needs and my emotions and being OK with it, aware of my conditioning, and at the same time helping my child with her emotional needs and behaviour and overcoming the constant battle between the two of us. I think you guys are doing a fantastic job!

She found the practise of parenting concepts in the sessions and the  
use of methodologies of learning such as Jamboard and Mentimeter 
very useful. She also found the parenting manual given at the onset of the program with session wise handouts very useful and handy. The most powerful concept she received from these sessions was, ‘Understanding needs with empathy."

Priyanka had opted to do the course on parenting because she wanted to be able to communicate with her daughter like a friend, spend time together and make her manage her life better. 
Anita ANITA KARAT JOSHUA, a yoga practitioner, and mother of two, 20 &17 year teens, lives in Bangalore -- " I she loved the course as ‘The concept of collaboration, as elusive as it was to me, was demystified :D’ "
Anita found the course very useful as the parenting concepts explained with scientific backing were very authentic. 
When asked whether she had made use of this knowledge in other aspects of her life, she said, "It has put me in perspective with regard not only to my teens but to all the relationships around me.’ ‘While I am Setting Limits with Empathy, how much is OK? I guess once implementation begins, one will find that balance!"
 Picture1  SANJAY S. RAO, Pilot, father of a 13 year old, resides in Qatar -- 
"The program has helped me better my communication strategies with the younger population. I wanted to understand the teenage brain better. ‘How do I get my child to understand self-regulation and set a routine for himself? As an adult, thinking with the higher brain, I was not able to understand the needs and functioning of the teenage brain.It is much clearer now. The course was very useful for me. I got a better understanding of the developmental needs of the teenager.I have already widely shared your programme with my friends and extended family!"
Sheetal SHEETAL MHETRAS, an interior designer from Chennai is a mother of 15 and 11 year olds -- "The ability to share, to be heard and to listen to one another in the group made me feel connected and comfortable with an online  group. I got insightful suggestions that related to current life situations. The Programme was pretty well thought through!
T
he Content was very relevant and the Manual given with the session wise hand-outs was very useful. The practice of concepts in sessions was helpful and i got insightful suggestions that related to current life situations."

Gaya, mother of 13 and 8 year olds --
"The program gives me a clear understanding
of what is going on in my teen's mind so that
I am able to understand my child's needs.
These sessions really made me conscious
about what is happening in me – on complete self-awareness. I felt self-empathy was the most powerful concept. I was very much disturbed in my mind, this helped me to
calm down a bit."
Anita Sundar, mother of 18 and 14 year olds -- "From the anchors' learning, understanding and extensive study, we got an in-depth knowledge about the teenage brain and the challenges they face. We started seeing things from their perspective. Each and every session was an eye opener and very important."
jagruti Jagruti Gulechha, Freelance wall designer and mother of 12 and 8.5 year olds -- "I have implemented some tools like empathy, not giving solutions and asking them 'what they would like to do to take care of this problem'. This helped me a lot. Solving problems looks like the most powerful. Giving respect to your child by taking their opinions into consideration will get them to be enthusiastic and work towards their goals."
 
Anupam Shrivastava, father of 18 and
15 year olds -
"Understanding the factors behind teen behaviour, understanding empathetic communication techniques and
the language to use was useful. The need to move away from the dominant paradigm because authority is by default mode of parenting and teens are driven by peer group and are transitioning to disconnect from the family was a learning."
Zenobia Irani, Businesswoman and mother to 20 and 15 year olds -- "The program has helped me understand what is going on in my teen's life in a much better way. I can relate a lot more to her needs and respect them. The concept of responding and not reacting from my 'middle brain' each time my daughter does or says anything that I find unacceptable was appreciable."

supriya Supriya Padmanabhan, Leadership development coach & mother of a 14 year old -- "It gave me an understanding of why my child behaves this way. It has given me ways to stay connected with him at a stage when we only seemed to fight. The teen brain explains so much. So many concepts like empathy, acceptance, problem solving, beliefs, letting go etc. were powerful."
                     
Gautam Reddy, businessman, father of
15 and 12 year olds
-- "I became aware that punishments and rewards do not work. The facts on the child's brain configuration and
the importance of empathy were few of the highlights of the program."
 Sujatha Ganesan -- "Found that I was not alone in this journey of raising teenagers. The facilitator was an amazing coach and facilitator. A patient and cheerful listener who made everyone comfortable and drew us all out. The attendees were high energy, upbeat and I looked forward to attending each day of the workshop."
madhupincha Madhu Pincha , mother of 12 year old twins -- "My association with Parenting Matters has been the journey of a late mother from an anxious bag-of-nerves-parent of preterm twins to a confident, stress-free (if there is such a thing) mom of tweens. Besides helping me to understand my boys better, PM's guidance has armed me with the knowledge and tools to face every parenting hurdle with confidence."
  Joshita Gupta -- "I am associated with parenting matters for the past 10yrs. After attending 0 to 12yrs workshop I thought  knowledge of that would be enough to bring up my son. But after attending this teens workshop I got to know I was totally wrong. Knowing about teens brain and how to communicate to the teens was so well explained this really took the relationship with my son to the next level. Lots of home work is done by the facilitators which  made me learn so many aspects of teens in short time."
sucheta sundar Sucheta Sundar : "With one almost-a- teenager and another one not too far behind I was daunted by the whole teenager parenting prospect. New challenges and dilemmas came up frequently . The course has led to a better understanding of not only the teenager but also about myself. It was a transformative and enriching experience. It has given me a new perspective on my overall approach. The course content is excellent and well researched. The design of the course is planned in such a way that each module builds up on the previous and provides greater clarity and insight as it moves forward. The tools and strategies allow for easy application. The participants had so much to share. Our facilitator drew in the experiences of all the participants including her own, which was not only one of the best ways to learn but also inspiring and motivating for all of us. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire course and it went way beyond my expectations."







































































































































































































































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Participants from the Building your Child's Self-Esteem Course say...

I got a lot of answers to my questions. I realised that without empathy, or understanding my child's feelings and needs, one cannot reach out to the child.
                        --Shruti Prasad, full time mom to her 5 year old son

It has helped me to assess my own strengths and weaknesses as a parent and to evolve a method to act upon them. I am convinced that empathy is the most important tool to achieve my goal of raising an emotionally balanced child. It effectively contradicts the negative impact of the dominant paradigm.
                        --Preethi Frederick, Chartered Accountant, mother to a 10 month old daughter

The program has helped me beyond the relationship with my son. It makes sense in every relationship. My husband said the name should be 'Relationship Matters' instead of Parenting Matters! The session on roadblocks in communication made me understand how my husband and son may have been feeling.
                        --R.Srividhya, Designer, mother of 4.5 year old son

In the sessions, I understood my child's needs, practiced real-life situations in communication, met and learnt about other parents' problems.
                       --Anupama, works part-time, mother of 2 year old daughter.

Participants from the Positive Discipline Course say...

It has helped me identify my backstory, make peace with it and enable me to move on. It has made me more conscious of my stressors. It has motivated me to be a better parent. It has taught me the value of my child as an individual.
                      -– Abitha Deepak, works from home and mother to 3.3 year old son

Setting limits with empathy has powerful tools that will help my children to build their inner discipline and thus helps me to have healthy relationship with my family and kids.
                      --Nithya.S. mother to 9.5 and 5.5 year olds

Participants from our programs conducted at Business Organisations say...

This program helped me break some of my belief systems passed down by traditional practices and view parenting in a completely different way. The tools used in giving empathy, setting limits without hurting the child, appreciation over rewards are very useful to handle difficult situations in everyday life. I realized this way of parenting is not difficult, it is a positive approach to be a responsible parent.
                    --Vino Franklin, Operations Management, CSSCORP Ambattur, (father of a daughter 2.4 years)


The sessions helped me to understand the developmental needs and behavior of my son, how the child's brain works and what actions I need to take for him to grow into a beautiful human being. The tool of Pause, Think and then Respond helped me understand the situation and manage my anger.
                      -Sandeep Arora, Management, CSSCORP Ambattur, (father of 8 year old daughter)


To think from the child's point of view and understand his feelings was new to me. The program helped me handle my son in a better way. I am able to concentrate in my work better.
                    -Mookambiga Jothiram, IT, CSSCORP Perangalathur, (mother of a 4 year old son)


Empathy and acknowledging my child's feelings helped me understand what she is going through. It has helped me build a warm relationship with my daughter. I feel happy that she wants to share her thoughts, feelings and experiences with me. She told me that even when she has a small wound, only I understand that it is painful for her.
                     -J.Nithya, IT, CSSCORP Perangalathur (mother of 5 year old daughter)


This program brought a change in me – My anger has reduced and I have stopped scolding and hitting them. I have started to listen to them. This has reduced my stress and not thinking too much about kids during office time. I have come to understand their needs and feelings.
                       -V. Sarada, Ashok Leyland


The modules on Effective Communication and Building Inner Discipline made me understand how to communicate with my child, how to listen and empathise with my child's feelings, understand how to find a solution for the problem identified. This has contributed to my work productivity because it has reduced my stress factor.
                    -N.Siva Palani, Ashok Leyland

We have now started treating our children the way they deserve and in this way we find them to be more attached to us. The methods suggested here have made us see things from their perspective and respect their individuality and earn their unconditional love and respect. The way I treat my child after I am back home is different now. I try to understand his needs as well as my emotions and feelings before I get home and it has made my after work hours at home more peaceful and happy. The most powerful concept was Engaging Cooperation which leads to more inner discipline than using abusive language to discipline them. The concepts like empathy and understanding the needs helped me build a more cordial relationship with my family members as well (my husband & mother in law)
                      -Pavithra. V., Engineer, Dell ,mother of 2.7 years son

The most useful thing was sharing the experiences, suggestions and discussions with experienced parent educators and other parents. Some tips and ideas were very useful. The most powerful concept was to deal with empathy. Though we have set limits on behaviour in the past, it has been a real eye opener for me to just put myself in my children's shoes and imagine the reason behind his behaviour.
                 -Rammohan, father of 7.5 year old son, Dell

Watch video testimonials from our participants