655 Riddell Road
Orangeville, ON L9W 4Z5

Tel: 519-940-8678
Fax: 519-941-1525
E-mail: info@dpsn.ca




Past Events

Special Workshop Presentations:

Family Fun Event

Dufferin Children and Youth Festival


Special Workshop Presentations

Drop the Worry Ball: Parenting in the Age of Entitlement
with Dr. Alex Russell

Thursday, May 17, 2018, 7:00 p.m.

Want your children to be more resilient and independent?

Let them make mistakes and learn from them. Children learn through the experience on non-catastrophic, painful failure, and it is through the process of these failures that they mature into resilient, resourceful, and emotionally balance individuals.

Drop the Worry Ball

Learn to:

Dr. Alex Russell

Dr. Alex Russell is a clinical psychologist who lives and works in Toronto. He provides assessments and psychotherapy to children and adults, in addition to consulting with schools, teachers and psychologists.

Dr. Russell has addressed many parent and counsellor groups over the years. He is intimately familiar with the culture of the school system and the relationship that parents, teachers and counsellors share with regard to the children we are raising.

With thanks to our sponsors:

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Opioid Drug Information Sessions

Tuesday, June 13, 2017 and
Thursday, June 22, 2017

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Download the press release

The opioid crisis is a growing and evolving problem.
Communities like ours are not immune to the problems.

opioids

More than 400 Ontarians died from an opioid overdose in just the first six months of 2017. Closer to home, County of Dufferin Paramedic Services responded to 10 confirmed opioid overdoses in January and February 2017, including two deaths.

The need to educate students and parents about the perils of opioid use is clear.

Dufferin Parent Support Network has collaborated with other local organizations to bring a series of information sessions at all three local high schools and has planned two for parents, one in Orangeville and one in Shelburne.

Join us for an information session about the perils of opioid drug use. Speakers include:

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Difficult Behaviour...Bright Future
with Michael Reist

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

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photos of challenging children

word cloud of challenging children



Want to know how to handle your children's
difficult traits and behaviours?



We can show you how to teach them to channel their behaviour in positive ways.

"Difficult" is in the eye of the beholder. A "difficult" child is not
a problem to solve but a mystery to be understood.

"Difficult" behaviour is a matter of perspective. A trait that is labeled as "difficult" in a child can be seen as admirable in an adult. Martin Luther King Jr. was a charismatic leader who challenged authority. Terry Fox was strong-willed and determined. Jim Carrey…well, he kind of still is the class clown. They didn’t succeed in spite of these traits. They succeeded because of them.

When you better understand your children's behaviour and see how their "difficult" traits can benefit them in the future, you can help them learn to develop their strengths in positive ways.

Michael Reist is a nationally recognized authority on the needs of children. He is the author of several books, including the best-selling Raising Boys in a New Kind of World.

A classroom teacher for over thirty years, Michael now works in private practice where he is a mentor to young people and their parents. He specializes in working with children's challenging behaviours and helping parents understand them.

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Dr. Ross Greene: Collaborative and Proactive Solutions
Kids Do Well If They Can

a non-punitive, non-adversarial approach to parenting that is collaborative, proactive, skill-building and relationship-enhancing

Thursday, May 12, 2016

Learn the basics of Collaborative & Proactive Solutions, a mindful, empathetic and empowering way of parenting and teaching kids.

Behaviour, like spelling or tying shoe laces, is a skill. Challenging behaviour is a sign of lagging skills or unsolved problems, not lagging motivation or poor parenting.

Ross Greene's books

This presentation will help you:

Dr. Ross Greene Ross W. Greene, PhD is the originator of the innovative, research-based model known as Collaborative & Proactive Solutions (CPS) as described in his influential books The Explosive Child and Lost at School and the forthcoming books Lost and Found and Raising Human Beings. He is also the founding director of the non-profit Lives in the Balance.

For more information about Dr. Ross Greene and Collaborative & Proactive Solutions, please visit the Lives in the Balance website.

Ministry of Education

With thanks to the generous support of a Ministry of Education Parents Reaching Out Grant.

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Drop-In Parenting Groups

Do you have concerns about communication, discipline, sibling rivalry, rebellion, or substance use? Drop in to one of our parenting groups where YOU get to choose the topics. Three times and locations:

Ministry of Education

With thanks to the generous support of a Ministry of Education Parents Reaching Out Grant.

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Family Talk about Drinking with Alyson Schafer

therapist, best-selling author, TV host and internationally acclaimed parenting expert

Monday, November 23, 2015

Alyson Schafer

Teens today face enormous pressures that can put them at risk for underage drinking. Is there a way we can ease the sress and keep kids on a positive path?

Family Talk about Drinking gives parents and educators the tools and strategies required to navigate this important phase of development. The goal is to help adults better understand what is happening in the lives of teens and take and active role to prevent underage drinking.

Honey, I Wrecked the Kids

Participants will learn:

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The Resilient Child: Fortifying Your Child Against Stress
with Teresa Pitman, award-winning parenting writer and international speaker

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Teresa Pitman, author of the Steps and Stages books Stress is inevitable, and we can't possibly anticipate every problem our children might encounter. But there are things parents can do to help their children be more resilient—better able to cope with and bounce back from the ups and downs and unexpected challenges of life. Come to this presentation and learn the latest—and sometimes surprising—research about how to help your child develop these all-important inner strengths.

Teresa Pitman is an award-winning writer and international speaker who focuses on parenting topics. She wrote the "Steps and Stage" column for Today's Parent magazine for more than 20 years and is the author or co-author of 18 published books. She's the mother of four grown children and grandmother of seven, with one more on the way.

Brought to you in part by our generous sponsor:

LotsOFun Orangeville Family Entertainment Centre LotsOFun Orangeville Family Entertainment Centre
indoor playground and laser tag arena


Alyson Schafer: Honey, I Wrecked the Kids

psychotherapist, author, TV host and internationally acclaimed parenting expert.

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Misbehaving children always make us question if we are parenting properly. We feel like we are messing up our kids. Learn:

With thanks to our sponsors:


Advocating from Strength: Bringing Our Best Selves to the Table

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

When we advocate for someone—children, parents, ourselves—we are usually asking for something, such as a service or support, that rights be respected, a wrong be rectified, or for a new way of doing things. It can feel like a lot of pressure and emotions can run high.

We gather information and prepare the questions we need to ask, but when we reflect later on the meeting with the decision makers, it may seem like there were invisible dynamics at work that made the difference between whether the encounter moved forward or backward.

In this presentation, we’ll examine some of those dynamics, and help you advocate from your strengths.


Healthy Body Image/Eating Disorders

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Eating Disorders

Eating disorders are complex conditions that signal difficulties with identity, self-concept and self-esteem.—Canadian Mental Health Association.

Eating disorders come in all shapes, sizes and fitness levels. They do not discriminate against gender, culture, racial or socio-economic factors. In adolescents, 20 percent of eating disorders occur in boys.

Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness.

This presentation by Michelle Mason, a mental health nurse with Supportive Housing in Peel, will help teens and their parents learn:

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Creating the Me I'd Like to Be:
…A workshop for teens and adults on transforming your life

Wednesday, April 17, 2013, with Kersty Franklin, DHS, LMHC

Kersty shows that through the use of cooperative parenting and open discussion, parents and their teens can not only survive, but also thrive!


ADHD: What It is and What We Can Do
—A Focus on Management Strategies

September 27th, 2012, with Dr. Greg Finlayson, Ph.D., C.Psych.
This presentation will provide an overview of ADHD and the ways in which it creates challenges for individuals and those around them. While it will also address the components of a comprehensive approach to treatment, the emphasis will be on the many different strategies which can be helpful for the individual, as well as for parents and teachers, in managing these challenges.


Bullying: Why It Happens

May 2nd, 2012, with Michael Reist

Download the Handouts:

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Creating the Parent I'd Like To Be

November 10th, 2011


Managing Your Child's Fears and Worries

April 27th, 2011


What Is It Like To Be A Girl Age 5 to 12 Today

May 12th, 2010, Presentation by The Pink Project Team


Raising Kids in a New Kind of World

November 4th, 2009, with Michael Reist

Download the handouts:

Boys and Girls Learn Differently

April 22nd, 2009 with Michael Reist

Download the handouts:

Just Because It's Not Wrong, Doesn't Make It Right

June 10, 2008, with Barbara Coloroso

DPSN, with the support of a Parents Reaching Out regional grant through the Ministry of Education brought internationally renowned parenting expert Barbara Coloroso to Dufferin.

Barbara Coloroso shows parents how to nurture and guide children's ethical lives from toddlerhood through the teen years using everyday situations at home, at school in social settings, and in the world at large.

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Family Fun Event

Dufferin Parent Support Network's
2016 Family Fun Event!

Jungle Oasis Play Centre


Thank you!

Thank you to everyone who came out to support Dufferin Parent Support Network at our Family Fun Day at Jungle Oasis on Saturday, February 13 as well as to our sponsors and the community businesses who donated door prizes.

Congratulations to the winners! of our fabulous door prizes:

With thanks to our generous sponsors:


Dufferin Parent Support Network's
2015 Family Fun Event!

Jungle Oasis Play Centre

Thank you!

Thank you to everyone who came out to support Dufferin Parent Support Network at our Family Fun Day at Jungle Oasis on Saturday, February 14 as well as to our sponsors and the community businesses who donated door prizes.

Congratulations to theWinners! of our fabulous door prizes:

With thanks to our generous sponsors:


Dufferin Children and Youth Festival

2012 Dufferin Child and Youth Festival 2012
DPSN sits on the festival planning committee.

Saturday, June 9th: 10a.m. to 3p.m.
RioCan Parking Lot (First Street in front of WalMart

Now in its 18th year, the Festival brings a wide range of activities including music, live entertainment, demonstrations, a parent information fair, food and other things for children and youth to do.

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