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                                   About Wouter van der Hall   
 
Wouter van der Hall, author of The Parent Program™ has been 
involved with children, families and Child Welfare organizations in Europe 
and Canada for about 25 years. 
He was on the front lines with the 7% of families where things have gone terribly wrong. With the issues parents and children had to deal with. From the scars of sexual and emotional abuse, child prostitution, to addictions in parents and in children. The pain of the inability to parent and the silent scream of children for someone to please do something. The frustration children and parents feel in working with well meaning, often stressed and stretched workers in frequently under-resourced child welfare systems.

Wouter gathered the tools parents need as a group counselor and family counselor in treatment centers for children with severe behaviors and their families. In many leadership roles in private and government agencies and as a guest lecturer at Social Work programs in Amsterdam, The Netherlands and in Kamloops, Canada.

As a management consultant for corporations and government agencies, including the US Government and multi-nationals like Direct Energy and Volker Stevin Contacting Ltd, Wouter found that his clients, whether Executives or Road Crew Foremen ran home to use the tools he offered with their spouse and children. He realized that all parents want the tools to do a better job at the most important role in their life.

Dedicated to serving children and families by offering The Parent Program™ Wouter combines his extensive experience with the tools used at all levels of organizations and even in peace negotiations, and makes them easily accessible for parents.
                                        
Wouter believes that every child has a right to the best equipped parents they can have: their own parents, with the tools to be great parents.
              
He aims to reach and teach millions of parents with The Parent Program™

Wouter is presently co-chair of the Board of Directors of the SAFE Society in Salmon Arm, British Columbia, Canada, which runs a transition house for women and children and other programs aimed at ending violence to women and children.


                                     
                           Wouter (r) with Glenn Laiken, Dr Phil's image consultant. 
                                  Getting advice for media appearances
                                  (For info re Glenn Laiken:  www.alandales.com  )

More information

Wouter received the equivalents of BSW and MSW (Management, with Education and Coaching certifications) degrees in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. 
He is a certified The Human Element©, Myers Briggs Type Indicator© and True Colors© trainer. 
A life long learner, he has been educated in many areas, including Psychology, Dutch Law, Open Leadership, Beyond Conflict, Excellence in Media, Master of Influence, Cultural Diversity, and many more programs.
He has been trained in Vipassana Meditation, Transcendental Mediation and Reiki.

Some of the roles Wouter fulfilled since he started his career:
Group leader at an after school day care center
Group and family counselor and team leader (at treatment centers for children with severe behaviors mostly in Amsterdam)
Manager of a child welfare agency, Gouda, The Netherlands (A combination of a Family Resource center and a Child Protection agency) Wouter here co-initiated a grassroots movement to "one-stop" service delivery (with a central intake) for services including voluntary Child Welfare services, Child Protection, Mental Health, Public Health, Youth Justice and Special Education services.  
Guest lecturer at the College for Youth Social Work, Amsterdam
 
He moved to Canada in 1996  (his wife is from Canada) and after a year as Resource Social Worker he became Regional Manager for Integrated Services for the British Columbia government. He was responsible for the regional 
integration of service delivery of programs united from 5 ministries into one new Ministry for Children and Families. Services ranging from Child Protection, Foster Care, Youth Mental Health, Youth Addiction Services, Youth Justice, to 
Public Health and Child Care.
He taught Social Work for a few semesters, providing 4th year Social Work students with a General Social Work Practices program, as they set out to join the work force with new energy and enthusiasm. (UCC, Kamloops, Canada)
    
Wouter became a management consultant to seek new challenges. He trained, coached and facilitated processes with a wide range of clients. From managers in the US Government, multinationals to small non-profits, health organizations, doctors, family business owners, and accountants, to individuals who asked him to coach them in their pursuit of personal and business goals. 

He has been a personal coach for parents, professionals and individuals who needed support since 1988.
 

 Why Wouter developed the program:

"I have seen the pain on kids 
faces when their parents lash out, 
from their own frustration, powerlessness 
or when they simply don't show up.
I have seen the sheer desperation when 
kids, whether 3, 7, or 15 let their 
shock, hurt and loneliness shine 
through their masks 
of aggression or indifference.

I have seen their struggle 
to deal with rejection or abuse. 
And as they try to keep their life 
together, somehow.
I don't want any child, any youth 
to have to go through that.

I don't want any parent to feel the cut 
through pain they do feel, when their 
child looks like that.

That is why I developed this program. 
So every parent can have the tools to 
be the great parent they can be.

And so every child can have the best 
parents they can:
Their own parents 
with the tools to be great."



Wouter van der Hall
Author of 
The Parent Program™