Reflective Parenting Program

WILA participates in various community service and research projects. In 2003, with the support of a grant by the Robert Simon Foundation, Wright Institute Los Angeles and Family Service of Santa Monica, developed the Reflective Parenting Program. "Reflective Functioning", a new concept drawn from the child development and attachment literature, is used as a basis for a research and service project on parent education. The program seeks to enhance critical parenting skills in a twelve-week workshop series with an at-risk population of parents of local Head Start preschoolers. It utilizes professionally led discussion groups whose aim is to increase parental empathy and appreciation of one's children as separate, thinking beings.

The model has been shown to be effective in enhancing parent-child attachment, increasing parenting skills, and thereby strengthening families. Currently, parenting workshops are being offered to parents of Head Start preschoolers. We plan to offer Reflective Parenting Workshops to the general community within the next year.