Parents find themselves in a unique position where they can help their children, especially if these children are having emotional and behavioral problems. Often, however, the problem is that parents lack the appropriate parenting skills to deal with such problems. To this end, various parenting programs have been designed where parents can acquire the knowledge and skills for more effective parenting. In one residential care institution in Slovenia, they designed program for parents who have children with emotional and behavioral problems. With my master's thesis, I wanted to explore what were the experiences and perceptions of the parents who attended this parent program. Specifically, I was interested in what the relationship with the child is like now, the perceived quality of coping with problems, what knowledge and skills they acquired and how they experienced the parent program they attended. The study involved 12 mothers whose children attend a residential care institution. Data were obtained through a semi-structured interview and supplemented by a questionnaire. The analysis of responses showed that the mother-child relationship improved after the parent program, in addition, the participants felt more confident in their parenting skills. The participants also gained various knowledge and skills in the parent program, most often reporting on constructive problem solving, setting boundaries for the child, a more strengthened role of the parent and understanding of the child who has emotional and behavioral problems. The participants also perceived the program as useful and it meant a lot to them that they were able to get in touch with other parents who are facing similar problems as them. Parent program, for these mothers, proved to be effective as it led to positive changes in the areas they wanted to improve with the program. The research also provides important insight into the significance of conducting and, especially, researching parent programs for residential care institutions and as a support to parents who have children with emotional and behavioral problems.
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