Sarina Behar Natkin, LICSW

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Why We Love PEPS Program for Early Parent Support

Seattle area families are fortunate to have an amazing parent support program that starts when your baby arrives! Ask parents in the area what they should do to get ready for baby, and many will immediately say, "Call PEPS!"

Here's when the magic starts. PEPS gets you linked up with other parents in your area with babies born around the same time. They provide a volunteer leader for 12 weeks of support and facilitation on the topics that matter most to new parents. You now have somewhere to go, a group of peers in the same place as you, and the opportunity to build lifelong friendships with other families. What more could a sleep deprived, question filled, new parent want? Got an older baby or a second one of the way? PEPS has you covered for that too! If you are expecting or have a baby you can find out all the details here.

What keeps this amazing organization going is the wonderful volunteers who give their time to support new parents. Many have participated in PEPS groups of their own and want to give back to the organization that supported them at such a critical time in their lives. Not all leaders were in a PEPS group. Some have long since raised their own children, and others, believe like we do, that supporting parents is a priceless gift.

These amazing volunteers start giving before your group even starts. All leaders go through a thorough training covering all the basics of facilitating a group. PEPS loves their volunteers so much, they hired myself and another professional to create & facilitate the Leading with Confidence: Strategies for Successful Group Facilitation for leaders who want to further develop their skills. We have been providing this training quarterly over the last 5 years and have absolutely loved every minute of it. These committed volunteers work hard, often pushing themselves out of their comfort zone to bring participants the best experience they can.

Three cheers for this amazing organization and all the volunteers working hard to support families! Want some inspiration for becoming a PEPS leader yourself? Watch this video to hear from PEPS leaders and see Sarina Natkin's Leading with Confidence training in action.