Parent Care Program

Offering mental health support to parents of preemies.

Parent Care, a program providing professional mental health support, free to eligible families.

Please note:

We recognize the importance and need for the Parent Care program, however CPBF had to discontinue the individual therapy sessions since May 31, 2023.

Our connected clinicians are still accepting clients, please see below for their contact information.

CPBF is still offering support through therapy groups, weekly peer-to-peer virtual support groups and our online peer group is always there for you.

Click Here.

Thank you for your understanding.

Important: If you are currently in crisis, please reach out to the support people in your life, and if necessary, call 911 or go to the emergency department of your nearest hospital.

"NICU parents often talk about how isolating it is to be in the NICU, and how hard it is to find someone who understands. We designed the Parent Care program to meet the mental health needs of these families, and to help them feel less alone.”

"When we connect with families in our Parent Care program, they share their stories, they explore their feelings, and they begin the process of reclaiming their experience and identities. These sessions can be profoundly transformational and can set families up for a lifetime of more confident parenting.”

“By supporting parents’ emotional well-being, we are actually prioritizing children’s physical and emotional development.”

Support Group for Graduate NICU Families

Registration is open for 2024.

Having a baby in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit can be an extremely isolating experience. This 6-week, closed therapy group will connect you with others with similar lived experiences. You will learn about common experiences during and after a NICU stay, including Perinatal Mood & Anxiety Disorders, Trauma and Grief and develop strategies and tools for coping.

The group is facilitated by Christine Cunningham a Certified Perinatal Mental Health Professional and RSSW, currently working as a therapist in private practice with a focus on people in the perinatal period experiencing mental health issues and Kelley Hassanpour, a Registered Nurse & Psychotherapist with over 15 years’ experience working in the NICU, as well as education in Infant & Early Child Mental Health & Perinatal Mental Health.

The objectives of this group are:

Normalize NICU experiences
Understand what happened in the NICU
Learn to trust yourself and your parenting abilities
Recognize the signs & symptoms of a Perinatal Mood & Anxiety Disorder
Develop tools to manage fear, anxiety, and depression
Understand the signs and symptoms of trauma and grief and develop coping strategies
Receive peer support from other families who have had similar lived experience

Eligibility Criteria:

Baby must have been discharged from the NICU a minimum of 2 months ago
This group is not suitable for bereaved parents (*case by case basis in incidence of a surviving multiple)
This group is open to Ontario Residents as per College regulations.

Details: