The Mindful Parenting Trainer Training is a specialized, one-year training program in the Eline Snel Method. You will learn how to provide practical and compassionate 8-week mindfulness training to parents, enabling them to raise their children and live their lives with greater awareness, resilience, and peace of mind.

This training program responds to the growing need for more conscious parenting, which focuses not only on tips and knowledge, but above all on how parents deal with themselves in the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Many parents want to react less on autopilot and be more consciously present, even when things get intense at home. Mindfulness helps parents recognize signs of stress earlier, regulate their emotions, and make choices with more kindness and clarity.

During this training, you will not only learn how mindfulness can be a valuable support in parenting, but also how to convey this safely, clearly, and effectively to parents. You will develop the skills to guide parents step by step toward greater peace of mind and more connection within the family, with training that is directly applicable in real life.

  • Mindful Parenting Training Course

    This specialized training program to become a Mindful Parenting Trainer responds to a growing need: guiding parents toward parenting with more attention, calmness, and resilience.

    Pressure within families is increasing. Parents and children are experiencing more and more stress due to high expectations, stimuli, and a constant stream of tasks and responsibilities. The "on" button is always on, but where is the "pause" button? Mindfulness helps parents to deal with these challenges more consciously and brings more peace to the dynamics of everyday family life.

    Good parenting goes beyond tips and knowledge alone. It forms the basis for how we treat ourselves and each other. Children need inner peace and attention to develop optimally, and as a parent, you also need that peace to be able to guide them with compassion and clarity, especially when things get tough.

  • Eline Snel Method®

    The Eline Snel® Method is universal, practical, complete, and compassionate. Eline developed all the training courses for children, young people, and professionals who work with children and young people, in practice. You can feel this in everything. The roots of both the course and the development of the Eline Snel Method lie in Eline's 30 years of experience as a therapist, mindfulness and compassion trainer, and come to life together with the age-old wisdom of the Vipassana meditation tradition.

Mindful Parenting Trainer Training

During the Mindful Parenting Trainer training course, you will learn how to give the specialized 8-week mindfulness training course to parents. This training course was developed by Eline Snel over a period of four years. The training course is now given to parents by many mindfulness trainers, as well as by professionals who work with families, to parents who indicate that they need it.

Course content

During the training year, we will cover various topics. Below you will find a brief explanation of the content of the Mindful Parenting Trainer Training Program.

During the course, the following will be discussed in more detail:
  • The three most important basic psychological needs of every human being
  • From DOING to BEING: how do you do that?
  • Reflection on personal experiences from one's own childhood
  • The courage to feel feelings and recognize the influence of feelings and thoughts on behavior
  • From impulsivity to awareness of (automatic) behavior. What important role does attention training play in this?
  • Feeling boundaries and your (un)conscious reaction to them
  • Working with Mindfulness Qualities in Parenting
  • Applying the theme of stress in the eight-week program.
  • Attention to the physiology of stress and stress-related behavior.
  • Practicing inquiry
  • Communication: awareness of old patterns in conflict situations. Practicing “tolerating nagging”. Awareness of possible new styles of communication
  • Quality time and trust: what does this mean in parenting?
  • The importance of compassion and self-compassion in raising children
Recommended reading

We advise you to read the following books before and during the course:

  • Reading the books Sitting Still Like a Frog, The Little Frog and Giving Space & Staying Close by Eline Snel
  • Reading The Whole Brain Child by Daniel Siegel
  • Reading Everyday Blessings: The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting by Jon Kabat-Zinn and Myla Kabat-Zinn

For whom?

This training is intended for mindfulness professionals who want to guide parents in mindful parenting. In particular, the training is suitable for Mindfulness Children and Youth Trainers, as well as MBSR and MBST trainers who want to expand their work to include parents and families.

Whether you work as a trainer, coach, or counselor, this training will help you support parents in integrating mindfulness into their parenting and daily lives, with greater awareness, resilience, and balance.

Learning outcomes Mindful Parenting Trainer Training Course

Main learning outcome:

  • After certification, the student can independently conduct mindfulness training according to the principles of the Eline Snel Method for parents at school, in private practice, or in their own institution. 

Sub-learning outcomes:

  • The participant knows the structure, composition, and essence of the lessons in the Eline Snel Method and the trainer's manual, and can follow these in practice.
  • The participant knows the art of inquiry and can conduct conversations with adults based on this theory;
  • The participant understands the importance of (self-)compassion and the dangers of transference, and can apply this knowledge in the lessons.
  • The participant can name the effects of mindfulness in adults and their brains.

Study load

The training program lasts one year. During eight days of classes and one follow-up day spread throughout the year, you will learn everything you need to know to start teaching Mindful Parenting. Between the eighth class and the follow-up day (day nine), you will conduct a pilot program and write your final report. On the 9th day, you will receive your certificate if you have successfully completed the pilot and the report.

The Mindful Parenting Trainer training course, Eline Snel Method, includes:

  • 70 contact hours during the course
  • 80 hours are spent preparing the teaching materials and giving an eight-week pilot training to adults in your target group
  • You will spend 40 hours reading the associated literature.
  • 1x a supervision session of approximately one hour via video calling.
  • You need 20 hours for the preparations and writing your final report

What do we expect from you?

Just as you expect commitment and compassion from us, we expect the same from you. To obtain the certificate, it is therefore important that you meet the following condition:

  • 100% attendance of all training days
  • A supervision session (mandatory) to monitor and deepen your personal learning process.
  • Giving a pilot course in your own target group (to a minimum of three or more adults who are not family members)
  • Writing a report about your pilot experiences
  • After certification, make the 'kikkerkeurmerk' (frog quality mark) visible on all your own PR material and website

Costs of Mindful Parenting Trainer Training

The cost for this year-long Mindful Parenting Trainer training program is €1995. This amount includes all necessary materials for the training and nine days of classes. Coffee, tea, and snacks are provided during the training days. A delicious lunch is also provided every day!

Location

Training sessions take place at Buitenplaats de Burgwal, Arnhemseweg 78, 3832 GN Leusden

Condition for participation

  • Completion of an eight-week MBSR or MBCT training
  • Completion of a silent retreat of five consecutive days, prior to or within two years after the course

Working with children/youth and/or parents in education, mental healthcare, regular healthcare or private practice

Certification and the frog quality mark

Certification as a Mindful Parenting Trainer in the Eline Snel Method takes place after you have met all the requirements.