Parents Anonymous (PA) is a
self-help
Self-help or self-improvement is a self-guided improvement''APA Dictionary of Physicology'', 1st ed., Gary R. VandenBos, ed., Washington: American Psychological Association, 2007.—economically, intellectually, or emotionally—often with a subst ...
group for parents with the goal of preventing child abuse and providing support for parents. PA, first called Mother's Anonymous, was founded in 1967 by a 29-year-old mother, Jolly K., and a psychiatric social worker, Leonard L. Lieber. Jolly K. was under Lieber's care at the time, and he suggested she meet with another parent from his caseload who had similar issues. The organization grew slowly until it received a grant from the Office of Child Development and Health Education and Welfare in 1974. Unlike traditional
twelve-step program
Twelve-step programs are international mutual aid programs supporting recovery from substance addictions, behavioral addictions and compulsions. Developed in the 1930s, the first twelve-step program, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), aided its membe ...
s, PA mandates professional involvement, accepts funding from outside sources, but does emphasize the importance of protecting members' anonymity and never charges parents a fee, dues or charge for attending.
The PA ''Chapter Development Manual'' requires each chapter have professional facilitator who "should be a professional person from a 'helping' field with a profound respect for the self-help concept."
Parents Anonymous publishes a periodical, ''Frontiers'',
and several manuals in addition to the ''Chapter Development Manual''.
WorldCat
WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the O ...
br>search results list 48 books from Parents Anonymous
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References
External links
Parents Anonymous
Non-profit organizations based in the United States
Support groups
Organizations established in 1967
Twelve-step programs
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