SOUTHFIELD — A parent training program based on Systematic Training for Effective Parenting (STEP) will begin on Wednesday, Feb. 8, 6:30-8 p.m. at Hope United Methodist Church, 26275 Northwestern Highway, Southfield, where the Rev. Carlyle Stewart III is senior pastor.

The psychology program at Lawrence Technological University is partnering with the city of Southfield and the church to provide training to parents and their children. Eight to 10 weekly sessions will be held on Wednesday evenings, running through May 2, if needed. A $10 donation is requested.

Interested parents can contact the program facilitators, Lawrence Tech Psychology Degree Program Director Matthew Cole, mcole@ltu.edu, (248) 248-3541, or the Rev. Leon Jefferson, Hope United Methodist Church associate pastor, ljefferson@hopeumc.org, (248) 356-1020, www.hopeumc.org.

The complete STEP program will be offered, including communication skills, effective consequences, drug awareness and understanding feelings through role playing and teaching exercises. Each parent will receive a STEP program book.

The program is needed now because of a variety of issues including single parents, school drop outs in early childhood, violence in the home and problems communicating, according to Cole.

“Parents and their children are facing a vast array of stresses that compete with healthy communication and mutual respect, and the STEP program will help parents acquire strategies and tools to improve communication and foster mutual respect,” Cole said.

Lawrence Technological University, www.ltu.edu, is a private university founded in 1932 that offers more than 100 programs through the doctoral level in its Colleges of Architecture and Design, Arts and Sciences, Engineering and Management. Activities on Lawrence Tech's 102-acre campus include over 60 student groups and NAIA varsity sports.