Parents Forum

Parents Forum fosters caring, honest and respectful
communications throughout society, starting in families

Our Curriculum

The Parent Forum curriculum provides thoughtful examination of eight original questions about family life issues and is based on the handbook Where the Heart Listens, written by Eve Sullivan. It offers suggestions for parent groups on organizing their own activities and serves as a “workshop in your pocket” to can help parents, children and all family members improve their communications skills.

The Book

Our Workshops

The way we were raised has enormous influence on how we behave and on whether we succeed at work. Empathy, and training to develop empathy, is gaining attention as a key contributor to productivity and effective leadership. Our workshops teach communications skills designed to increase emotional awareness and conflict management skills.

Learn More

Support Us

A donation to Parents Forum is a cornerstone investment in strong communities. Your gift helps parents obtain the skills and support needed to raise happy, productive and resilient adults. Your gift brings positive change to the families and long-term change for the future of our communities.

Donate Now

“I loved all the tools which we got, and becoming better parents.”
—Parent at CAPIC, Chelsea MA, 2018

“I enjoyed using the conversational formula. Also, I plan to make my own mission statement.”

—Undergraduate participant in Spotlight on Conversation, Wheelock College, Boston, MA, 2018

“ENJOYED IT!” “THANK YOU!” “Loved it!”

—Administrators, Department of Aging, Columbus, Ohio, 2016

“Impressed with a workshop that’s designed in a way to be significant in such a short time.”

—MIT administrators, Cambridge, MA, 2015

“The facilitators were warm and shared real-life experiences with us and new techniques that we could use in our lives.”

—Inmate at medium-security prison, Norfolk, MA, 2006.

“This program can be a solution. This program gives hope!”

—Inmate at medium-security prison, Norfolk, MA, 2006

More Translations

Parents Forum is committed to make our programs available in multiple languages. Our brochure has been translated into seven languages: English, Spanish, French, Arabic

“Parenting skills…” the real red flag

We recognize the need for immediate responses to the cascade of tragedies we experienced this last week. But a longer-term, positive and preventive response is also essential if we are to transform our communities so that atrocities like those in Dayton and El Paso...

Parents Forum, a new resource for families and our community

By Jamael Tito Brown, Mayor of Youngstown and Eve Sullivan, Founder of Parents Forum Everyone agrees that parents have enormous impact on their children’s lives, yet the preparation we receive for our responsibilities, usually limited to the early years, is often...

Not for Nothin’ …27 minutes

This week I enjoyed almost twice my lifetime allotment of fame! With deep gratitude to the many individuals who have helped Parents Forum over the past 25-plus years, I want to share the interview Susan Fleishman of Cambridge Community Television did with me. It is...

Generation Wealth? …actually ‘generation emotional and spiritual poverty’

The just released movie by Lauren Greenfield, ‘Generation Wealth’ @genwealthmovie, is one all parents and parenting educators should see. At the beginning of the show, one can comfortably imagine that the problem is other people, but the filmmaker’s use of images of...

Good news within bad news…

We didn’t make the short list ...sad face, but Parents Forum is recognized as an innovator in the Generation to Generation (Gen2Gen) campaign ...happy face! Gen2Gen offers an opportunity to spread the word and engage volunteers in parenting education and support at a...

File under ‘We knew that!’

The Week’s ‘health scare of the week’ describes research on the negative effects of helicopter parenting. Nicole Perry, the lead researcher on the project, described June 18, 2018, by the American Psychological Association, said, “Our findings underscore the...

Believe in impossible things!

[ Note added, as I am posting on Memorial Day: On this solemn day let us all remember those who fight on our behalf and those whose deaths this day recalls. They allow us to enjoy a peaceful day. I gave this talk at Porter Square Books in Cambridge, Mass., on Sunday,...

Love Me This Way

That’s the title of a book for children and parents, sent to me by the author Lee Aven, with a lovely, handwritten letter saying: = Dear Eve, = I share your interest in helping parents understand the skills of relationship through my own journey. I discovered that...

Be Kind and Carry On

Princess Diana: “The biggest disease this world suffers …is people feeling unloved.” #okaytosay @parentsforum @parademagazine

A revelation and a plea

The revelation:
Parents Forum should be free, in part because support that is freely offered is simply priceless/ The other reason, which leads to the plea, is that nobody seems to want to pay for what we offer. Sad face.

The heartfelt plea:
Could you kindly make a small donation, or a large one, to support our peer support program as we move into our second quarter century? With a lot of volunteer effort over many years and wonderful support from community-minded businesses, Parents Forum is now celebrating its 25th anniversary. I cannot quite believe it, but it’s true.

If you are in or near Cambridge, Mass. please join us next Monday, May 15th, on International Day of Families
bit.ly/2ogng0z
for our anniversary celebration. Tickets are still available.

And, wherever you are, please take a look at this article
http://bit.ly/2qCLuUj
in the spring newsletter of the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.