Clinical Guide to Helping New Parents: The Couple Care for Parents Program

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.

Kim Halford is Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Queensland in Brisbane Australia. Dr. Halford is a registered clinical psychologist and Fellow of the Australian Psychological society. He completed his PhD at Latrobe University in 1978, and has worked for the last 30 years in a mixture of clinical, academic and management positions. Dr. Halford is an internationally recognized expert on couple relationships. He has published 4 books and over 140 articles on couple therapy and relationship education. Dr. Halford has served as consultant on marriage and family policy to the Australian, German and United States Governments, is a regular media commentator on couple and family issues, and has presented his work in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Britain, Germany, Norway, Czech Republic, Greece, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Australia. Dr. Halford serves on the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Family Psychology, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Behavior Therapy, and Family Process. Dr. Halford’s work has been recognised in a series of awards.

Jemima Petch is a Director of Research at Relationships Australia (Queensland). She completed her PhD at Griffith University in 2006 where she developed and evaluated within a randomized controlled trial the effects of a couple-focused psycho-education program (Couple CARE for Parents) for couples expecting their first baby. Dr. Petch is an editor for the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships and the International Journal of Psychology. She is also a private practice psychologist, predominantly working with couples and new mothers.

Debra Creedy is Professor and past Director of the Queensland Centre for Mothers and Babies at University of Queensland, Australia. She is a registered nurse and psychologist. She is a recognized international authority on antenatal and perinatal mental health and parenting.