A huge frustration we hear from many of our parents is that when they bravely reach out for support having found themselves experiencing Child to Parent Abuse, they are promptly told to go on a parenting course.

FACT: 53% of parents who have changed their mind about contacting a professional for support did so because they felt the professional would think their child’s behaviour was their fault.

As well as worsening the guilt, upset and blame they are already likely to be feeling, this approach is sometimes the only solution they are offered by the agencies they contact.

This reinforces the misconception that CPA is down to parenting…rather than the reality that it can be influenced by a complex range of factors which differ from family to family.

FACT: 88% of parents with multiple children only have one who displays abusive behaviours.

It’s this complexity which means that a ‘one size fits all’ approach simply doesn’t work. Often, a range of options will need to be tried before the parent sees the circumstances changing in their home for the better.

And that’s why when Michelle John launched PEGS, she set out to provide a broad scope of choices for parents – including drop ins, peer support, workshops, advocacy and PEGS’ bespoke EPIC programme.

EPIC stands for Empowering Parents in Crisis and it’s about doing exactly that.

FACT: Three quarters feel blamed for their child’s behaviour.

PEGS won’t tell you what you should be doing differently, or tell you to try something you’ve already tried or know won’t work in your household.

Instead, the sessions focus on communication, on practical steps like putting together a safety plan or recording an incident log, and on building up the confidence that may have been eroded through the parent’s experience of CPA.

FACT: Almost four in ten don’t feel confident about their parenting on a daily basis.

It’s all about that crucial word of empowerment – because so many parents feel blamed, and the lack of widespread knowledge of this type of domestic abuse doesn’t help.

Currently, we have funding to run EPIC programmes in the West Mercia and Derbyshire areas – anyone living in those regions can contact us at admin@pegsupport.com for more information about the programme. Please note funding streams do change over time, so this is subject to change in the future. We provide updates across our social media regularly about where and when programmes are running. We also have a number of specialist workshops running which are accessible for parents anywhere.

All of our statistics are from the PEGS 2021 Parental Survey.