Ebook: Clinical guide to helping new parents: the Couple CARE for Parents Program

Note continued: Negative and Positive Self-Talk -- Developing Positive Self-Talk -- Self-Change in Adapting to Parenthood -- Managing Common Challenges in Running This Unit -- The Couple Finds It Hard to Make the Time To Do Couple CARE for Parents Around the Demands of Infant Care -- There is an Imbalance in Parenting Skills Between the Partners -- One Parent is Clinically Distressed -- Preparing for Flexible Delivery of Couple CARE for Parents Units -- 6. Sharing Infant Care -- Chapter Highlights -- Practical Issues in Flexible Delivery of Couple Care for Parents -- Making Flexible Delivery Effective -- Reviewing the Taking Baby Home Self-Change Plan -- Exploring Patterns of Time Use -- Sharing of Parenting and Household Tasks -- Reviewing Social Support -- Self-Change Plan -- Challenges in Offering This Unit -- The Couple Has Not Completed the Self-Directed Learning Activities -- The Couple Feels No Need To Do a Self-Change Plan.;This accessible guide details an evidence-based educational program to help couples adapt to parenthood while minimizing the inevitable stress on the relationship. Complete with content, rationales, activities, and client materials, its flexible format allows for home and office visits and phone/online support across the transition, starting during pregnancy and continuing into early infancy. Activities build on themes of caring, change, and cooperation as couples learn to identify and address sources of conflict, solve infant-care problems, and to become optimal partners as well as optimal parents. The book's hands-on presentation includes chapter highlights, boxed "Practice Tips" and "Clinical Connections" sections, client handouts and worksheets, and examples of clinician interactions with couples. The sessions described in Clinical Guide to Helping New Parents: The Couple CARE for Parents Program are organized to meet challenges and reinforce skills in key areas including: Developing realistic and shared expectations. Promoting positive communications and self-change. Conflict management communication skills. Developing sensitive and responsive parenting Reviewing personal and social support. Developing caring and healthy sexuality. Anticipating and preventing relationship deterioration.;Note continued: Introducing Unit 5 Caring and Sexuality -- 7. Caring and Sexuality -- Chapter Highlights -- Caring -- Sexual Intimacy -- Sexuality in the Perinatal Period -- Beliefs About Sex -- Sexual Frequency -- Sexual Likes and Dislikes -- Managing Common Challenges in Running This Unit -- A Partner/Couple Cannot Think of Any Caring Behaviors They Could Do for Their Partner -- A Partner/Couple Has Not Shown Caring Toward the Other Due to Negative Feelings Toward Each Other/Is Waiting for Their Partner to Show Caring First -- Discussing Intimate Details About Sexuality Can Be Uncomfortable for Some Educators -- Discussing Intimate Details About Sexuality Can Be Uncomfortable for Some Partners/Couples -- Partner/Couple Discloses Sexual Dysfunction -- 8. Looking Ahead -- Chapter Highlights -- Reviewing the Intimacy and Sexual Self-Change Plan -- Managing Change -- Preventing Couple Relationship Problems -- Relationship Maintenance -- Celebrating the Couple Relationship.;Note continued: Maintaining Use of Relationship Skills -- Some Final Comments.;Note continued: Discussing Incomplete Self-Change Efforts -- Patterns of Conflict Management -- Introducing the Importance of Managing Differences -- Assessing Current Patterns of Managing Differences -- Conflict Management Guidelines and Ground Rules -- Conflict Management Guidelines -- Conflict Management Ground Rules -- Conflict Management Communication Skills -- Recovering After a Conflict -- Conflict Management Self-Change Plan -- Managing Common Challenges in Running This Unit -- Some People Struggle to Recognize the Need to Listen When Managing Conflict -- The Couple Tries to Solve the Problem Prematurely -- The Couple Escalates to Arguing -- Moving Toward the Birth -- 5. Taking Baby Home -- Chapter Highlights -- Debriefing the Birth Experience -- Sensitive and Responsive Parenting -- Baby Care -- Bonding with Baby -- Sleeping -- Breast Feeding -- Crying and Soothing -- Parenting and Mutual Partner Support -- Parenting Stress Management.;Machine generated contents note: 1. Couples Becoming Parents -- Chapter Highlights -- Patterns of Relationship Formation and Dissolution -- The Couple Relationship and Parenthood -- Infant Care -- Impact of Parenthood on Parents -- Impact of Parenthood on Couple Interaction -- Couple Interaction and Parenting -- Risk and Protective Factors for Couple Relationships -- Assessing Risk in Couples -- Effectiveness of Couple Education for New Parents -- The Structure of Couple CARE for Parents -- Practical Issues in Offering Couple CARE for Parents -- Modes of Delivering Couple CARE for Parents -- Learning Processes in Couple CARE for Parents -- Conclusion -- 2. Expectations of Parenting -- Chapter Highlights -- Practical Issues in Delivery of Couple CARE for Parents in Groups -- Beginning the First Group Session -- Ground Rules for Group Couple CARE for Parents -- Icebreakers -- Infant Care Demands -- Sharing Parenting and Other Tasks -- Support from Partner and Others.;Note continued: Completing the Group -- Managing Common Challenges in Running This Unit -- Disengaged Participants -- Couple Starts Arguing in Session -- Couple Knows Very Little About Infant Care -- Couple Has Very Different Expectations -- 3. Couple Communication -- Chapter Highlights -- Communication -- Understanding Good Communication -- Key Communication Skills -- Self-Evaluation of Communication Skills -- Giving and Receiving Feedback -- Communication Self-Change -- Managing Common Challenges in Running this Unit -- One Partner is a Substantially Better Communicator than the Other -- Mistaking Hearing for Listening -- One Partner is a Wordy Speaker -- A Participant Reports that Trying to Communicate Differently Does Not Feel "Natural" -- A Participant Struggles to Identify a Self-Change Issue -- 4. Conflict Management -- Chapter Highlights -- Practical Issues in Home-Based Delivery of the Program -- Reviewing Communication Self-Change.