The Incredible Years® Programs

About the Incredible Years® Series

The Incredible Years® Series is a set of interlocking, comprehensive, and developmentally based programs targeting parents, teachers and children. The training programs that compose Incredible Years® Series are guided by developmental theory on the role of multiple interacting risk and protective factors in the development of conduct problems. The programs are designed to work jointly to promote emotional, social, and academic competence and to prevent, reduce, and treat behavioral and emotional problems in young children. View program previews here! In the parent, teacher and child training programs, trained facilitators use video vignettes to structure the content and stimulate group discussions, problem solving and trigger practices related to participants’ goals. Group Leaders are encouraged to become certified to promote ongoing fidelity to the program and as a means of receiving extensive feedback! Learn more with the Incredible Years Fact Sheet

The Incredible Years® Parenting Programs

There are separate parent programs for babies (0-1 year), toddlers (1-3 years), preschoolers (3-6 years) and school age children (6-12 years). The parent programs focus on strengthening parent-child interactions and attachment, reducing harsh discipline and fostering parents’ ability to promote children’s social, emotional, and language development. In the preschool and school age programs parents also learn how to encourage school readiness skills and are encouraged to partner with teachers so that they can promote children’s academic as well as social skills and emotional literacy. The programs have protocols for use as a prevention program or treatment for children with conduct problems and ADHD. The long term goal is ultimately to reduce school drop out, delinquent behaviors, and promote academic success. There are Home Visiting Coach models for each of these programs.

There are additional “adjunct” parent programs such as the Advanced Parent Program (promotes interpersonal skills and communication between parents), School Readiness Program, Attentive Parenting Program (focuses on a universal population), Autism Spectrum and Language Delays Program, and Well-Baby Program (for primary care providers to deliver to families attending well-baby check ups).
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The Incredible Years® Child Programs

The Classroom Dinosaur Child Prevention Program covers three age levels, beginning in preschool through 2^nd grade (3-8 years). Classroom lesson plans are delivered by the teacher to strengthen children’s social and emotional competencies, such as understanding and communicating feelings, using effective problem-solving strategies, managing anger, practicing friendship and conversational skills, and behaving appropriately in the classroom.

The Small Group Dinosaur Child Treatment Program is for counselors, therapists, or special education teachers to treat children with conduct problems, ADHD, and internalizing problems.
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The Incredible Years® Programs for Teachers

The Teacher Classroom Management Training Program is delivered to early childhood and elementary teachers of young children 4-8 years and consists of 42 hours (6 days) of monthly workshops delivered by a trained facilitator. The program focuses on strengthening teachers’ classroom management strategies; promoting student’s prosocial behavior, emotional self-regulation and school readiness; and reducing children’s classroom aggression and noncooperation with peers and teachers. The training also helps teachers collaborate with parents to support their school involvement and promote consistency of learning between home and school. There is also a Self-Administered option for this program.

The Incredible Beginnings Program is geared toward both Teachers and Child Care Providers of young children ages 1-5 years old. Teaching methods discussed include using social and emotion coaching, nurturing child-directed play interactions using narrated descriptive commenting, proactive teaching with predictable routines and consistent positive behavior management strategies.
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Implementation in Agencies and Schools

To ensure your Incredible Years® Program is implemented with the highest fidelity, the Incredible Years® has proven processes for training and supporting your service delivery. We offer standardized training and certification for therapists, counselors, social workers, nurses, teachers and physicians. The training includes coaching, mentoring, and manuals, protocols, resources and materials that ensures your agency or school is prepared to deliver the Incredible Years programs with confidence. The Incredible Years® Series’ programs have been implemented within a rich variety of cultural traditions in over twenty countries. These award-winning programs are evidence-based, empirically validated training methods in use for over 30 years.
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The Intervention Model

Certified Incredible Years® Group Leaders help parents and teachers meet the social and emotional needs of young children. The Incredible Years® certification is recommended for public health professionals, early interventionists, early childhood teachers, Early Head Start providers, home visitors, family service workers, and others who work with parents or other caregivers of children.
Levels of Intervention Pyramid