“The Incredible Years program with Shanna Alvarez has been the most helpful and effective intervention/education we have ever done as parents. This program was far more helpful than any book, class, seminar or web forum – and we have tried a lot of them. The IY program gave us hands-on practice implementing a wide variety of practical, useful and effective techniques for connecting with our kids, lowering the stress level in our house and actually changing our kids’ (and our own) behaviors for the better.
Shanna is an extraordinary leader. She is insightful, inspiring and real. She gives so much of herself to the class – from extremely helpful, illuminating and sometimes hilarious examples from her own personal life to extra support when families are struggling – that every family felt completely supported throughout the 18 weeks. Her honesty about the challenges of parenting our spirited children helped all of us feel that she truly understands what we are going through. As a result of this program, we are better and more confident parents and our family is happier and calmer as a whole.
One of the best things about this program was the full family support. It was so important for both myself and my husband to attend, to ensure that information wasn’t being filtered through one of us (or simply forgotten in the rush of daily life) and to help us both get on the same page with our parenting. As a result of IY, we are not only better parents by a long shot, but we are more of a team. We support each other in our parenting with the confidence that comes from having tried these strategies together and finding that they work.
Our daughter has absolutely thrived through this program. She has learned so much about managing her own behavior and responding appropriately to others, and she has gained tremendous awareness of her own emotions and what she can do to help herself get and stay calm, even in challenging times. Best of all, she is so proud of her new skills! This has been a game-changer for her, and will help her so much in the classroom, with her friends and in all future social settings.”
— M
“We appreciate the whole IY team so much. It has been the best investment of time and money we could ever have made in our family. ”
— M
“IY has been the single most effective thing that we have tried to help our son with ASD, Anxiety and ADHD. We hoped it would help us help our son; in fact it helped our entire family feel stronger together. ”
— T
“I felt this program was very well done, easy to follow (though it took work) and elevated my confidence as a parent tremendously. Meeting in a group setting built community with parents who have faced similar issues. I felt understood and not alone or judged. The systematic approach and sequencing of tool and skills development that is logical, based on easy to remember frameworks and effective was so helpful. This built alignment between parents, consistency and empathy between all of us. My relationship with my son has improved so dramatically as a result of IY and I feel our life has changed beyond my wildest hopes! I am most grateful for the shift in my son’s sense of self...he is no longer engaged in negative self-talk or thinking of himself as a “bad kid”. His joyful curious, big hearted self is back and we are all more calm and positive. ”
— L
“This team is knowledgeable and has the ability to picture (or have experienced themselves) the struggles the families are going through so they are effective in giving ideas to problem solve. Looking back, we as parents have learned to ignore more and “choose our battles”. We noted our son is a lot happier these days. We believe this is because we are giving him more praise and encouragement and we are all on the same page as a family.”
— H
“The connections we had to the group leaders were a main benefit of this program. We felt like we are not alone in our challenges.”
— C
“This program focused and refined my parenting and that of my partner making us a more consistent and cohesive co-parenting team. It also built confidence in our son.”
— B
“The main benefit of this program was the holistic approach to family dynamics that fully addressed underlying issues for each family.”
— R
“The main benefit of this program is the family resilience it creates!”
— T
“This program gave us a true toolbox of strategies, especially ways to cultivate a more connected and positive relationship.”
