Advice and support for practitioners on reducing parental conflict, including resources to use with parents and information on professional development.
On this page
- Parental conflict toolkits and guides
- Reducing parental conflict videos (for professionals)
- Parental conflict screening tools
- Resources you can use with parents
- More support for professionals
- Nottinghamshire's staff training offer
Parental conflict toolkits and guides
Relationships Really Matter: Reducing Parental Conflict toolkit (Nottinghamshire County Council staff only)
Toolkit for Nottinghamshire County Council staff working with families where conflict may be having an impact on family relationships and children.
Amity Relationship Toolkit: Parental Conflict
The Amity Relationship parental conflict toolkit is a practical guide for professionals looking to boost their approach to and confidence in building better relationships for parents.
Download Amity Relationship Toolkit: Parental Conflict [PDF]
Reducing Parental Conflict Programme (Department for Work and Pensions)
Information and resources for leaders, managers and practitioners helping to reduce the impact of potentially damaging inter-parental conflict on children.
Visit Reducing Parental Conflict (GOV.UK)
Race Equality Foundation: Parental conflict toolkit
Parental Conflict Toolkit designed for use by public health nurses, including, midwives, health visitors, school nurses, general practice nurses and other professionals working with families.
Go to the Parental conflict toolkit (Race Equality Foundation)
Guide to working with co-parents
The Tavistock Centre For Couple Relationships has produced a guide to working with co-parents.
Reducing parental conflict videos (for professionals)
The following videos disuses why its important services help to reduce parental conflict in families and what they can do to help.
- Reducing parental conflict: why it matters to children and why it matters to services (Early Intervention Foundation) [1:30 minutes, YouTube] - Early intervention to reduce the impact of parental conflict needs to be at the heart of services.
- Parental conflict: the impact on children and how local authorities can help (Innovation Unit) [3 Minutes, Vimeo] - Learn how two local authorities helped parents manage parental conflict as part of the DWP funded Local Family Offer Programme.
- Reducing parental conflict - ask the question (Nottinghamshire County Council) [2 minutes, YouTube] - Important questions workers need to consider when identifying if parental conflict is present within a parental relationship.
Parental conflict screening tools
Relationships Really Matter: Reducing Parental Conflict Pathway
If there are signs or a possibility of domestic abuse, professionals should follow the safeguarding procedures outlined in the Relationships Really Matter: Reducing Parental Conflict pathway
Download Relationships Really Matter Pathway (Reducing Parental Conflict) [PDF]
More parental conflict screening tools
These tools can also help professionals identify further support parents may require to manage conflict:
- Guidance on cases that could be Domestic Violence (Nottinghamshire County Council [PDF]
- Parental Relationships Spectrum DA Screening (The Stefanou Foundation) [PDF]
- Intact Couples Questionnaire (The Innovation Fund) [PDF]
- Separated Parents Questionnaire (The Innovation Fund) [PDF]
- Parent Problem Checklist (Dadds)[PDF]
- Score 15 - Your Family Questionnaire (Association for Family Therapy) [PDF]
- Distinguishing domestic abuse and harmful conflict – A screening tool (Cafcass) [Word]
Resources you can use with parents
Relationships Really Matter Parent Group: Reducing Parental Conflict course
Identify parental conflict and interventions to promote more constructive communication.
This course should assist all workers who work with children and families to:
- identify when parental conflict is present and impacting on family relationships
- understand the impact on children, their wellbeing and outcomes
- understand the difference between parental conflict and domestic abuse
The course will also be an introduction to tools for:
- helping parents understand the causes of conflict in their relationships
- addressing conflict and supporting parents to move towards more constructive conflict communication
- available interventions including a programme for working with fathers.
- identifying parental conflict in relationships
Next session dates contact your nearest Nottinghamshire Family Hub
Download the parents and carers group sessions poster [PDF]
To learn more, email ReduceParentalConflict@nottscc.gov.uk
Self-help workbook for couples in conflict
The Amity Little Book of Relationship Care is a self-help workbook designed to help couples understand why they argue and how they can reconnect and navigate their arguments in a more constructive way.
Download the The Amity Little Book of Relationship Care [PDF]
Parents and carers in conflict or separating
Anna Freud supports children and young people’s mental health. They have tips for parents and carers experiencing conflict, and advice on reducing the impact of conflict between parents and carers on children.
Go to Parents and carers in conflict or separating (Anna Freud)
Supporting children through separation guide
This guide is designed to help separating and separated parents (outside of court) understand what their children need most from them and how to put this into practice
Go to Parenting Together - Supporting Children through separation (GOV.WALES)
Videos to share with parents about parental conflict
Relationships Really Matter: Parental Conflict
Animation for parents about parental conflict, how it affects children and what parents can do to have a healthy relationship.
Relationship Really Matters: Participant feedback
Parents who have accessed Nottinghamshire County Council's Relationships Really Matters services share their experiences.
How parental conflict impacts children
Children discuss how they feel when there is parental conflict in these short video clips (from OnePlusOne relationship charity).
- Kids talk: Frost (OnePlusOne) [30 seconds, YouTube] - A young girl reflects on how she feels when her parents argue, compared to when they make up again.
- Kids talk: Future (OnePlusOne) [40 seconds, YouTube] - Girls talk about how their parents’ arguments might affect their own adult relationship choices.
- Kids talk: Money (OnePlusOne) [30 seconds, YouTube] - A young boy describes how he feels when he hears his grandparents arguing about money.
- Kids talk: Torn (OnePlusOne) [35 seconds, YouTube] - A young girls describes how she feels when her parents argue.
More support for professionals
Reducing Parental Conflict Group (Knowledge Hub)
Free online community for UK professionals, across public administration, the public sector and those working in or with public service improvement, who are interested in reducing parental conflict and the impact this can have on children, young people and families.
Keep up-to-date on policies, webinars, research and other publications and events on reducing parental conflict. You can also keep in touch with practice and other practitioners and what they're learning.
Go to Knowledge Hub to sign up and join
Reducing Parental Conflict Hub (Foundations)
Key ‘what works’ evidence and tools for local leaders, commissioners, practitioners and researchers, including why parental conflict matters for children’s outcomes, and guidance on how to take action.
Go to the Reducing Parental Conflict Hub (Foundations)
Webinar: The difference between domestic abuse and parental conflict
Domestic abuse and parental conflict are very different, although they can look similar. This webinar, delivered by experts at Amity, will help professionals to identify what is happening and how to respond.
Book now at https://linktr.ee/eastmidlandsrpc
Download the Webinar Flyer [PDF]
Nottinghamshire's staff training offer
Staff training courses
Nottinghamshire, funded by the Department for Work and Pensions, can provide training for professionals in the following:
- Understanding the parental conflict and its impact on child outcomes
- Identifying and exploring parental conflict with parents
- Working with parents in conflict to promote behaviour change and positive communication
- The role of supervisors and managers in managing people to address parental conflict
This training is delivered on the council's staff learning platform. To learn more about this training, email ReduceParentalConflict@nottscc.gov.uk
Train the Trainer programme
A number of practitioners within different services have completed the ‘Train the Trainer’ programme. These training champions can help deliver training to staff. You can find them in schools, DWP, Family Service, Family Hubs, Children's Social Care, Quality and Attainment Team and Health.
NSCP Reducing Parental Conflict (RPC) awareness and resource training Level 3
Reducing Parental Conflict (RPC) Awareness and Resource Training Level 3 from Nottinghamshire Safeguarding Children Partnership (NSCP) is suitable for all staff that have contact with families.
If you have recently attending this training, you can attend again if you need a refresher.
Find upcoming training event dates to book your place (NSCP)
For more about NSCP courses, contact Sarah Bale at:
Email: sarah.bale@nottscc.gov.uk
Telephone: 0115 9774439.
To book on this course, contact Ann Meakin by email at ReduceParentalConflict@nottscc.gov.uk
Bespoke training for practitioners
The Reducing Parental Conflict team delivers tailor-made awareness-raising and practitioner training, and offers further advice and guidance on the subject of parental conflict.
Learn more by contacting Ann Meakin at:
Email: ReduceParentalConflict@nottscc.gov.uk
Telephone: 01158040517
Webinar: The difference between domestic abuse and parental conflict
Domestic abuse and parental conflict are very different, although they can look similar. This webinar, delivered by experts at Amity, will help professionals to identify what is happening and how to respond.
Book now at https://linktr.ee/eastmidlandsrpc