Frequently asked questions

Questions about the Triple P – Positive Parenting Program^®

What is positive parenting?

Positive parenting is simply an approach to parenting that gives parents and carers tools and strategies to raise their child in an environment that is safe, loving and predictable. Triple P allows each person doing the programme to decide what is important to them. So it’s not telling you how to raise tamariki, but giving you the confidence and skills to build good relationships, set boundaries and rules calmly and in ways that kids understand, and follow up with consequences that are not harmful.

To sum it up, Triple P helps you:

• Raise happy, confident, capable tamariki
• Build and maintain a close, loving relationship with your child
• Understand more about child development to make parenting more enjoyable and easier
• Encourage positive behaviour
• Prevent and manage misbehaviour effectively, in a way that supports children’s emotional wellbeing
• Have rules and routines everyone respects and follows
• Feel less stressed and calmer
• Feel more able to handle various parenting situations, knowing you’re doing the best for your kids.

Where does Triple P come from?

The research home base of the Triple P – Positive Parenting Program^® is in Australia, at the University of Queensland’s Parenting and Family Support Centre. Foundation Director Professor Matt Sanders is regarded as one of the world’s leading authorities on parenting. Today, there are hundreds of researchers in universities and institutions around the globe contributing findings that inform the development of new Triple P programmes. Their work means Triple P has the largest evidence base of any parenting programme in the world.

Is Triple P effective?

Triple P is one of the few parenting programmes in the world with evidence to show it works. There are literally hundreds of trials and studies to show Triple P works for most families, in many different cultures, and in many different family situations. Triple P Online is also the first online parenting programme proven to work. In some regions, people purchase the programme (where funding doesn’t cover free access). In those regions we offer a money-back guarantee.

Is my data safe?

Triple P International takes your privacy and data protection very seriously. We have rigorous IT security systems and procedures. We don’t share your information with any third-party marketing organisations or unauthorised personnel. Your email address and region are visible to our administration team. Your progress may be visible to a system administrator in case you need to change your email address. All other family information within the programme is anonymised. If you’d like more information, please review our privacy policy.

Questions about Triple P courses

What kind of Triple P should I do?

You can either speak with your local Triple P provider to help you decide which programme is best for your needs and your family or you can look at our list of parenting courses, to see what might suit best.

As a rule of thumb, if your child has minor behaviour problems Seminar, Primary Care, Discussion Group and Group Triple P will help. Group Triple P is also helpful if your child has more serious behaviour problems. All of these programmes are available for parents of teenagers as well.

If you are having serious problems at home, Standard, Enhanced and Pathways Triple P are intensive programmes that may meet your needs.

Stepping Stones Triple P is for parents of a child with a disability.

Family Transitions Triple P is for parents going through divorce or separation.

Triple P Online is an eight-module web programme that can be done at home.

Lifestyle Triple P is for parents who want a healthier, more active lifestyle for their children.

What are Triple P Online programmes?

To suit busy lifestyles, Triple P is also making programmes available as interactive, online courses with videos, worksheets, tips and activities. Do your programme anytime, anywhere, from any device, and track your progress, too.

Triple P Online for Baby is for parents-to-be and new parents, to help them adjust to the emotions and changes of parenthood while creating a positive environment. There are seven modules.

Triple P Online covers all of Triple P’s positive parenting strategies for parents and carers of tamariki under 12. There are eight modules.

Teen Triple P Online includes a full toolkit to help parents and carers to positively influence their pre-teen or teen’s (10-16 years) development and life skills. There are six modules.

Fear-Less Triple P Online helps parents and carers support anxious or worried tamariki (6+) and teach children more about their emotions. There are six modules.

Separating or divorcing? Family Transitions Triple P Online can support parents to create a stable, reassuring environment for  tamariki, reduce adverse effects and adjust well. There are five modules.

Stepping Stones Triple P Online provides positive strategies for families of tamariki with disability aged 12 and under, to help make everyday life easier. There are 10 modules.

How long will it take to do an online course?

Each module only takes about 30 minutes to an hour. You don’t need to do it all in one block, either. Some people prefer to just do 10 or 15 minutes a day. For example, there are eight modules in Triple P Online. So if you start today and do one or two modules each week, you could be finished in about a month! Of course, it’s totally up to you. If you want to take it more slowly, take a break, or go back and revisit a previous module, that’s all fine too.

Should more than one parent or carer do the course?

It’s helpful, but not essential. Triple P is used very successfully by individual parents. When more than one parent or carer does the course, it helps everyone work as a team to make changes. This includes grandparents, step-parents and other whānau, if they also care for your children. It makes it easier to communicate better about parenting, argue and disagree less, and support each other more. If you want more than one parent or carer to have their own workbook and certificate, please register separately on our website.

Can Triple P help grandparents, foster parents and other carers?

Of course! The principles of Triple P apply to anyone who cares for tamariki. Grandparents and other carers often attend Triple P programmes. It also really helps family harmony when parents, grandparents and other people who care for your child do Triple P and are all using the same parenting playbook.

What language can I do the online programmes in?

In your region, Triple P Online is currently available in English and Spanish.

If you are interested in participating in a programme in a language not currently available in your region (Dutch/Flemish, French, German, Arabic or Japanese), please contact us.

WHY DO A PARENTING PROGRAMme?

Shouldn’t parenting just come naturally?

You’d never get behind the wheel of a car without a few lessons. But most of us raise tamariki without knowing what works best, choosing bits and pieces we have learnt from our parents and friends, or picked up online. But Professor Matt Sanders, the clinical psychologist whose research forms the basis of Triple P, believes parenting is the most important job in the world. After decades working with families around the world, he says parents and carers everywhere have similar goals: they want healthy, happy children, they want a little less stress, and they are relieved when they are given a few tips to make those goals happen more quickly and easily.

I don’t want to do a course. Will you just give me some tips anyway?

It is really important to us, as a parenting programme based on scientific research, to give parents and carers the kind of information that will make a real difference to them and their families. Our research shows that people get the best results out of Triple P when they do a guided programme that is either delivered by a provider, or is done methodically, through an online programme. So, we don’t like to give quick tips, because that kind of advice is unlikely to work in the long term. What we can offer you is a ‘taste’ of Triple P with our hot parenting topics. When you read about Triple P and understand the thinking behind it, we hope you agree it’s worth taking the time to get it right. After all, it’s to help give each child the very best start in life, and it helps you, too!

I’VE GOT A QUESTION THAT’S NOT COVERED HERE

One of the things that makes Triple P unique is that it’s not about telling you what to do in every situation. It’s about helping you feel confident that you can work out what to do. This will be based on what you learn about child or teen development and the strategies you’ve picked up, and your ability to review and refine. So if your question is about parenting, we suggest you go ahead and do the programme! If it’s about something else to do with Triple P, you may want to try contacting us using this website’s contact details, via our social media channels, or through your local Triple P support service.