Couples and parenting
Understanding the complex developmental tasks facing all couples as they transition to parenthood and beyond
With Mary Morgan, Damian McCann, Kate Thompson, Martha Doniach, Linsey Blair, Simon Cregeen and Elle Sidel (Chair)
Comprised of online lectures and discussions on 7th October, 14th October, 4th November, 11th November, 18th November and 2nd December 2024, this series will focus on understanding the challenges relating to the complex developmental tasks facing all couples as they transition to parenthood and beyond.
All parents’ couple relationship is at the heart of a child and young person’s development. Whether parents live together or apart, their capacity to relate to each other will have far-reaching and profound effects on the children they care for.
Each session will focus on the impact of the transition to parenting on couples including those who have become parents through IVF treatment or adoption and parents of children with special needs. The thinking shared in this series is a culmination of work with parents and couples conducted over many years at Tavistock Relationships (TR), this includes a parenting service, TR’s ‘Reducing Parental Conflict’ programmes, its divorce and separation service and the general clinical service for couples and individuals.
“So many parenting books, unlike this one, overlook that adults are also navigating their own relationship as they go about the task of bringing up children.” - Susanna Abse, psychoanalytic therapist and author.
Through a lecture and facilitated discussion, we will explore the psychological hurdles some parents face, both conscious and unconscious, alongside the joys of raising their children. Speakers will outline how couples must adapt their own intimate relationship alongside and within their role as parents: a developmental feat for which there is no instruction manual or guidebook.
On booking this series, you will receive a 20% discount to buy the book Couples as Parents edited by our speakers Kate Thompson and Damian McCann.
For booking details visit TR Together or visit tavistockrelationships.org to find out more about Tavistock Relationships.