Parents who have children in Kidsunlimited nurseries, or who work for companies that offer its childcare vouchers, will be able to access the discounted services from Parenting Matters, which has recently begun bringing its coaching sessions directly into the workplace.
David Casson, sales manager at Kidsunlimited, said, 'We felt that Parenting Matters complemented the existing integrated well-being benefits that we already provide to our childcare voucher clients.'
Parenting Matters was set up by Dr Clare Bailey, a GP with four children. Dr Bailey developed the idea for the BBC's 'Little Angels' television series, which featured clinical psychologist Dr Tanya Byron.
Dr Bailey said, 'Research shows that stress caused by concerns about children, relationships and family life has a significant impact on people's focus and productivity at work, resulting in increased depression, absenteeism and attrition.
'For parents, simply learning some new strategies, feeling back in control and developing the confidence to be more consistent with their children can make all the difference at home.
'Parenting Matters has now started offering group, individual and telephone-based parent coaching in the workplace as well, in response to requests from working parents who found it hard to schedule a local course and were too tired and busy in the evenings to commit.'
The Parenting Matters approach is based on Cognitive Behaviour Therapy techniques. The organisation also provides workshops or courses to small groups in nurseries and schools.
