This page describes Aletha Solter's workshops. Our certified Aware Parenting instructors (in twelve countries) also offer workshops, lectures, and support groups. Please contact these people directly for information about Aware Parenting activities in their area.

Aletha Solter, PhD, is a developmental psychologist, international speaker, consultant, and founder of the Aware Parenting Institute (www.awareparenting.com). Her four books, The Aware Baby, Helping Young Children Flourish, Tears and Tantrums, and Raising Drug-Free Kids have been translated into many languages, and she is recognized internationally as an expert on attachment, trauma, and non-punitive discipline.

Please click on one of the following:

Aletha Solter's upcoming workshops

Sponsoring a workshop

Comments from workshop organizers and participants

Aletha Solter's 2008-2009 Workshop Schedule

This information is updated frequently. Please check back again soon.

Workshop in Santa Barbara, California

October 4, 2008: "Discipline Without Punishments or Rewards."

For parents and teachers of newborns to pre-adolescents. Learn how to raise cooperative, responsible, and self-disciplined children without being either a dictator or a doormat. We will discuss the pitfalls of punishments and rewards, and review the basic techniques of democratic discipline with mutual respect between adults and children. Discover the three reasons for inappropriate behavior, and learn how to change children's behavior by recognizing and meeting their needs. Includes demonstrations and participation.

Location:

Continuing Education Schott Center, Auditorium

310 West Padre Street

Santa Barbara, CA 93105

Sponsored by Santa Barbara Community College Continuing Education. This workshop is free and open to the public. There is no pre-registration. For more information, please call Becky at (805) 683-8236 or call the Aware Parenting Institute at (805) 968-1868.

 

Workshop in Santa Barbara, California

October 25, 2008: "How to respond to tears, fears, and tantrums."

Does your baby cry a lot? Does your toddler awaken frequently at night? Does your child have temper tantrums? Is your child aggressive? Does your child have fears? Discover the reasons for challenging emotions. Learn compassionate and effective ways to respond to a crying, angry, or frightened child, whether you are a parent, nurse, or therapist. Benefits of this approach include resolving children's sleep problems, reducing aggressive behavior and hyperactivity, and increasing children's self-confidence. For parents and others involved with children from birth to age twelve.

Location:

Continuing Education Schott Center, Room 3

310 West Padre Street

Santa Barbara, CA 93105

Sponsored by Santa Barbara Community College Continuing Education. This workshop is free and open to the public. There is no pre-registration. Continuing Education Units (CEU's) will be available for RN's, LVN's, CNA's, MFT's, and LCSW's. For more information, please call Becky at (805) 683-8236 or call the Aware Parenting Institute at (805) 968-1868.

 

Workshops in Australia

Aletha Solter will be in Australia (Brisbane, northern New South Wales, and Melbourne areas) in November 2008 to lead workshops for parents and professionals sponsored by Kyabra Community Association, Lighthouse Resources, and other organisers. For more information, please contact David Lees at David@lighthouseresources.com.au or by telephone at 61 (0)7 3373 9499. Some workshops are private, but the following events are open to the public:

 

Workshops in Brisbane

Tuesday, November 11, 2008 (Full-day workshop): "Discipline Without Punishments or Rewards."

Learn how to raise cooperative, responsible, and self-disciplined children without being authoritarian or permissive. We will discuss the pitfalls of punishments and rewards, and review the basic techniques of democratic discipline with mutual respect between adults and children. Discover the three reasons for inappropriate behavior, and learn how to change children's behavior by recognizing and meeting their needs. This workshop is useful for parents, teachers, daycare providers, health practitioners, social workers, therapists, and anybody else involved with babies or children from birth to pre-adolescence. There will be some experiential exercises and plenty of time for questions.

Sponsored by Lighthouse Resources. For more information and bookings, please contact Donna Nisbet at (07) 33739407 or by email at donna@lighthouseresources.com.au.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008 (Full-day workshop): "Helping Children Heal From Stress and Trauma."

Stress and trauma early in life can alter children's neurobiological systems and lead to anxiety, aggressive behaviour, hyperactivity, attachment disorders, sleep problems, learning difficulties, depression, and physical illnesses. Luckily, children know how to heal from trauma if we give them the opportunity. We will review the major sources and symptoms of stress and trauma during infancy and early childhood, and discuss the conditions required for children to restore emotional health. The focus will be on reducing stress, creating emotional safety, and facilitating children's spontaneous stress-release mechanisms of play, laughter, crying, and raging. This workshop is useful for parents, teachers, daycare providers, health practitioners, social workers, therapists, and anybody else involved with babies or children from birth to pre-adolescence. There will be some experiential exercises and plenty of time for questions.

Sponsored by Lighthouse Resources. For more information and bookings, please contact Donna Nisbet at (07) 33739407 or by email at donna@lighthouseresources.com.au.

 

Workshops in Byron Bay, New South Wales

Thursday, November 20, 2008 (evening lecture): "Raising Drug-Free Kids."

Are you worried about how to keep your kids off drugs? With the easy availability of drugs, preventive parenting is more important than ever before. It is never too early to begin inoculating your children against drugs. Whether your children are toddlers or teens, there are steps you can take to increase their future drug resistance. Discover the five basic principles for drug-proofing your kids in a drug-filled world. For parents and others involved with children from birth through adolescence.

For more information and bookings, please contact Aware Parenting Instructor, Marion Badenoch Rose at awareparenting@iinet.net.au.

Saturday, November 22, 2008 (four-hour workshop): "Discipline Without Punishments or Rewards."

For parents and teachers of newborns to pre-adolescents. Learn how to raise cooperative, responsible, and self-disciplined children without being authoritarian or permissive. We will discuss the pitfalls of punishments and rewards, and review the basic techniques of democratic discipline with mutual respect between adults and children. Discover the three reasons for inappropriate behavior, and learn how to change children's behavior by recognizing and meeting their needs. This workshop is useful for parents, teachers, daycare providers, health practitioners, social workers, therapists, and anybody else involved with babies or children from birth to pre-adolescence. There will be some experiential exercises and plenty of time for questions.

For more information and bookings, please contact Aware Parenting Instructor, Marion Badenoch Rose at awareparenting@iinet.net.au.

 

Lecture in Santa Barbara, California

January or February 2009 (date to be determined): "Raising Drug-Free Kids."

Are you worried about how to keep your kids off drugs? Learn why the campaign to "Just Say No" is not enough, and why preventive parenting is the key to keeping kids away from drugs. Whether your children are toddlers or teens, there are steps you can take to increase their desire to avoid drugs. Discover the five basic parenting principles for drug-proofing your kids in a drug-filled world. For parents and others involved with children from birth through adolescence.

Location to be determined

 

Workshops in Belgium

May 2009

Click here for more information.

 

Workshops in The Netherlands

May 2009

Check back soon for more information.

Sponsoring a Workshop

Aletha Solter offers talks and workshops for parents and professionals on a variety of topics based on the philosophy described in her four books: The Aware Baby, Helping Young Children Flourish, Tears and Tantrums, and Raising Drug-Free Kids.. These talks and workshops range in length from a two-hour presentation to a full-day workshop. In addition she is available to give one-hour presentations for organizations as a conference or keynote speaker.

Aletha has given talks and led workshops in twelve different countries. If you wish to organize a workshop in your area, please contact her at (805)968-1868, e-mail: solter@awareparenting.com, or write to her at The Aware Parenting Institute, P.O. Box 206, Goleta, CA 93116. U.S.A. (Click here for more information about Aletha Solter.)

Here are some of the most popular topics:

Two-hour presentations (includes time for questions and discussion):

1. "Why do babies cry?" Crying in babies (from birth to 2 years)

2. "Understanding tears and tantrums." Crying in children (from 2 to 8 years)

3. "Why do children 'misbehave'?" An introduction to democratic discipline and the three reasons for inappropriate behavior.

4. "Raising Drug-Free Kids." Five basic preventive parenting tips to help children stay away from drugs.

Full-day workshops:

1. A full-day workshop: "Discipline without punishments or rewards." This focuses on the three reasons for "misbehavior" in children from birth to pre-adolescence, and ways to resolve conflicts in a non-authoritarian manner. (This workshop includes all the information from the talk "Why do children 'misbehave'?", and also includes some information about crying.)

2. A full-day workshop on "Helping children heal from stress and trauma." This workshop is primarily for professionals, but is also of interest to parents. It provides an overview of the sources and symptoms of stress and trauma, including a discussion of violence, hyperactivity, fears, attachment disorders, etc. The focus is on recognizing and facilitating children's spontaneous healing mechanisms, specifically crying, raging, play, and laughter. (This workshop includes all the information from the two-hour talks on crying.)

3. A full-day advanced workshop: "Being an aware parent: coping with our own feelings." This experiential workshop provides a supportive atmosphere for parents to work on feelings of anger and guilt, and find connections with their own childhood. Prerequisite: previous workshop with Aletha Solter and familiarity with at least one of her books. (Limited to 20 participants.)

Half-day workshops (4 hours) are also a possibility. Dr. Solter can present all of these talks and workshops in either English or French. She can also give her two-hour lecture, "Why do babies cry?" in German and Spanish.

Comments from workshop organizers and sponsors

"Thank you for your great presentations. The feedback from your talks was uniformly glowing. You're a pro!"
Ed Hofmann-Smith, ND (The Natural Childbirth and Family Clinic, Portland, Oregon, U.S.A.)

"Thank you so much for your workshop. It was incredibly inspiring to me and I know also to the others who attended."
Jenny Hornung (Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.)

"As a mother and therapist working in Johannesburg, South Africa, the workshops were a reminder of how crucial it is to keep our children's spirits intact, right from the beginning. I was reminded of so many things, but especially the importance of connecting, holding and unconditionally allowing our children to express what they feel. Thank you for travelling so far to share your teachings with us."
Michele Wolhuter (Therapist, Johannesburg, South Africa)

"Thank you so much for your time with us in Sedona. Feedback from parents continues to come in on how helpful the workshop was for them, and how much they valued what you offered. I am very pleased to say that these families have told me that they are already putting to use your suggestions... The moms have expressed how thrilled they are to have partners who now understand and are genuinely excited about putting Aware Parenting practices to work within their families. What a truly valuable gift Aware Parenting is in a world in which we have lost touch with our innate nurturing instincts."
Charity Cygal (Director of the Red Earth Waldorf Kindergarten, Sedona, Arizona, U.S.A.)

"I am so grateful for you coming to Australia to spread Aware Parenting further round the globe. In particular, I was so impressed with your presentation style and how you found a way to include humour, research, your own experiences, practical suggestions, and also the experiences of the participants with their own children as well as with their parents. Your workshops reconnected me to the deep trust in each baby and child to do what they need to do, given enough aware attention."
Marion Badenoch Rose, Ph.D. in Psychology (Byron Bay, Australia)

"Congratulations for your elegantly clear presentation at the San Francisco Congress."
David Chamberlain, Ph.D. in Psychology (President, Board of Directors, Association for Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health)

"I have gotten such wonderful feedback from those who attended the Florida workshops. You have not only changed our lives but the lives of many who attended...We feel so much more understanding, knowing now how our son will attempt to heal from various stresses and traumas. Instead of feeling overwhelmed, perplexed or angry, we feel more calm and thrilled to have some parenting tools to help him heal. The patience this kind of knowledge gives us is just amazing. It has also helped us to understand ourselves so much better. "
Kathy Brown (Founder, Parenting the Soul, St. Petersburg, Florida, U.S.A.)

"I had the occasion to meet people who told me that they appreciated your talk in our Swiss village very much. As for myself, I was touched by the simplicity with which you presented the subject and gave your examples. I thank you for this model of authenticity that spoke to the heart of everyone."
Christiane Raboud (President of Parents' Association, Grimisuat, Switzerland)

"The people who came to your workshop in Geneva had nothing but good things to say about it. One woman told me that her husband said she was so much calmer and happier, and he asked what was going on. She replied that she felt so much different about her little ones crying that it improved her whole attitude."
Lisa Lindsey-Brandli (Kindermusic teacher, Geneva, Switzerland)

"Your talk in my town in Austria was wonderful! The audience was fascinated by your method."
Monika Lintner (Director, Parenting Center, Kirchdorf, Austria)

"I knew many of the 200 people at your Brussels workshop and people have been calling me to give me their positive impressions. Thank you for having opened up this enormous field of exploration and help for families. I wish you all the best, and specifically to reach more and more people in order to revolutionize our way of raising children. This is what a revolution is, isn't it? It's not always with noise and violence. Your actions are a part of this subtle revolution that I hope will make humanity more human, more aware."
Monique Somers (Therapist, Waterloo, Belgium)

"Your workshops here in the Netherlands were a real success...I liked your illustrations, the content, and your enthusiasm."
Hanneke van Hasselt (Therapist, Velp, The Netherlands)

"Wow! The San Francisco workshop was a fabulous success in all respects. You are a phenomenally experienced, knowledgeable, and charming speaker, and everyone learned a lot. Thank you so much!
Margo Braver (San Francisco, California, U.S.A.)

"Mexican parents were very happy to have you in Mexico. You opened hearts for respect and love for children."
Renée Guindi Cohen (Director of Música Prenatal, Mexico City, Mexico)

Feedback from workshop participants

(From the U.S.A.)
"Aletha is wonderful!!"
"Non-judgemental."
"Empowering."
"Very informative with concrete, realistic examples."
"Extremely knowledgeable and easy to listen to."
"Very personable. She related a lot of her personal experience."
"Entertaining."
"Respectful presentation."

(From South Africa) "By the end of the workshop in Johannesburg I made an internal commitment to never spank my sons again. For the first time I could understand that such authoritarian methods are actually disrespectful and harmful to children."

(From France) "Your workshop in Paris was an outstanding experience to me. I really enjoyed attending! I was surprised how openly participants responded to your workshop and discussed their own childhoods among each other."

(From Spain) "Many thanks to Aletha Solter for everything she has taught us in order to respect all the needs of our children." "The workshop has helped me become a better human being in all the facets of my life as a therapist and mother."

This page was last updated on July 3, 2008. Copyright © 1996 to 2008 by The Aware Parenting Institute. All rights reserved. No part of this web site may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical (including copying to other web sites, and including translations), without written permission from Aletha Solter.