About Christa Nieuwboer #1

Christa Nieuwboer_20131212

On July 2nd I will defend my dissertation at the University of Amsterdam: Online Parenting Support. Guiding parents towards empowerment through single session email consultation.

Scholarly literature shows that online parenting support can help to improve parental competencies: knowledge can be enhanced by online courses; attitudes strengthened by peer support forums; and skills learned by distance guidance.

More specifically, single session email consultation holds promise to improve parental empowerment. Just after one relatively short consultation session (30-60 minutes of practitioner’s time) parents showed an increase in self-confidence, regarding their parenting role.

Online consultation to improve empowerment requires understanding of the concept of empowerment, as well as the skills to use specific empowerment-oriented text-based techniques. My research shows that practitioners may use more techniques than currently applied.

The practice of single session email consultation is interesting because:

  • it is a brief, cost-effective and efficient intervention
  • it can be provided by practitioners from many different disciplines who work with parents
  • it is convenient for both parent and practitioner
  • it can empower parents and families
  • it enables practitioners to work in an inspiring empowerment-oriented manner.