Tuning into The Bears

Tuning Into Kids (TIK) is a suite of globally recognised, evidence-based parenting programs that seek to build children’s emotional intelligence and develop strong family relationships.

Created by Professor Sophie Havighurst from the University of Melbourne and teacher/sociologist, Ann Harley, Tuning Into Kids has been assisting families to build healthy relationships—both in Australia and internationally—for more than 25 years.

Mindful, at the University of Melbourne, delivers facilitator training for the programs and Ann Harley, now a Program Consultant, says The Bears have been an integral part of the TIK program manual right from the beginning.

‘I first discovered Innovative Resources card sets back in the 90s when I was working as a Parent Help program coordinator in Melbourne’s west,’ she recalls. ‘I was introduced first to Strength Cards then The Bears cards and stickers after attending a number of IR workshops.

‘We found out very quickly that when people used The Bears as a visual and tangible prompt, they were more able to speak freely about their experiences and feelings.’

Ann’s positive experiences using The Bears cards and stickers in parent groups led to her advocating for their inclusion in the TIK program manual to help parents/carers more easily identify and explore their own emotions and those of their children.

‘When it comes to encouraging parents and carers to talk about their feelings and then draw parallels to their children’s emotions, nothing is as effective,’ Ann says.

‘The Bears are beautifully flexible and resonate so well with people of different ages and from a range cultural backgrounds. Everyone finds a bear they can relate to.’

Trainer, Gianna Mazzone, delivers training to TIK facilitators and says they take an experiential approach to learning, which means trainees have the opportunity to try some of the key activities they will later present to parents/carers in the parenting program.

‘The Bears stickers are used to illustrate how to teach parents and carers to strengthen the emotional connections between them and the children they care for,’ she explains. ‘Our facilitators experience first-hand how much easier it is to talk about their bear’s feelings. It removes a lot of the anxiety.’

Some TIK facilitators report using them at the start of every session of the 6-week program to increase parents/carers emotional literacy and connect body signals to feelings and thoughts.

‘One of our facilitators told us a story about deciding to use a different warm-up exercise at the start of one of her sessions. She almost had a revolt on her hands … the parents made it clear they wanted to use The Bears in every session!’

Tuning Into Kids facilitator trainings are delivered by the University of Melbourne, in both online and in-person formats. These sessions are suitable for anyone who works with parents in a professional capacity, particularly in family and community services, child protection, foster/kinship care, health, mental health and education sectors.

by John Holton