Activities with the ICDP programme started in 2015 and have been ongoing ever since.
Article about ICDP in times of pandemic – 2020
EARLY DEVELOPMENTS:
In 2015, ICDP started to develop thanks to efforts of Nino Margvelashvili, a neuropsychologist, based in Tbilisi with a vision to scale up ICDP in the future.
Nino works with children with special needs in an international school, as well as doing assessments and rehabilitation courses concerning different disorders, including epilepsy, specific learning disorder, ADHD and other. On behalf of the Ministry of Education and Science she has been working as a trainer for teachers in different regions of Georgia, covering various aspects of inclusion and specific strategies on how to help students in school.
During July and August 2017, she carried out an ICDP pilot project for parents at the Institute of Neurology and Neuropsychology in Tbilisi and soon after that she ran three more ICDP courses for parents. ICDP meetings took place at the “Tamar Gagoshidze’s Neuropsychology Center”.
“Sharing their stories and constructing their own understanding of positive parent-child interactions based on ICDP principles were the main instruments. The diversity of groups ensured that every story or idea expressed during the meetings left a footprint on others. There were days with many tears. Those tears were cleansing, at the same time serving as opportunities to cultivate more empathy and compassion.” – writes Nino.
Here are some thoughts from the participants:
“…I have become aware of every second of my life, perceiving my interactions with my child…I feel that my child’s love towards me has increased, doubled.. and we are better friends now. Generally, this course ignited in me periods of contemplation about human interactions and caring for others.”
“The training delivered everyday issues in a very comprehensible way for me, which made it easier to connect to real life situations…Compared to general trends these days, this programme is the one that makes sense without using high-flown concepts or values.”
“…With the help of this course I became convinced that human interactions are basis for human development.”
“I feel I am stronger and more confident by realizing and acknowledging where my difficulties lie and where I do not have any.”
“Before bedtime I would tell my daughter that the training I was attending twice a week was like a job but for a shorter period; and that the reason for attending was to learn more so that she and I had better and better interactions and can better understand each other. Then Mia said: “Mummy, I found a name for your job and I am naming it “Love Job.” I think my daughter was perceiving my emotions whenever I shared about the ICDP training with my husband, and I think she chose the title accordingly.”