WHEN parents turn to Charlotte Mitchell they are usually at the end of their tether.

Charlotte is Bolton Council’s senior parenting practitioner — a relatively new post that aims to help troubled families resolve their differences.

Although Charlotte, aged 29, is keen not to be labelled as “supernanny” — the rather severe television parenting expert who helps families with small children gain a peaceful home — she does a similar job.

Charlotte has a team of two and plenty of multi-agency help, and between them they work to bring harmony to families.

As any parent of a teenager will know, when the hormones kick in so do, in many cases, the difficulties, and parents often feel there is nowhere they can turn for help.

That’s where Charlotte and her team come in. They have successfully turned round the lives of many youngsters and their fraught parents.

Charlotte uses the same model as that used on the popular Driving Mum And Dad Mad television programme, which is called the Triple P — Positive Parenting Programme.

It involves an eight-week course and one-to-one help if that is needed.

Charlotte does not tell parents what to do, but helps them choose which behaviours they want to change and then work on them.

She hopes to get families spending more time together and showing each other respect.

The scheme also uses parenting contracts, drawn up by parents with their teenagers, to try to encourage good behaviour and get rid of the bad behaviour.

For Vicky, aged 32, the programme has been a godsend and the behaviour contract has changed things for the better in her home.

The programme has transformed her once-disintegrating relationship with son Jordan, aged 14, and the pair now enjoy their time together.

Jordan was diagnosed with ADHD — Attention Deficiency Hyperactivity Disorder — and had been a constant source of worry for his mum.

He had an obsession with fire, caused problems in school — when he actually went to school — and life was hell.

But since Vicky went on the programme things have improved dramatically.

She said: “I have learned how to parent Jordan better. The shouting has stopped and we talk now.

“He has a behaviour contract and he is doing really well.

“He spends much more time with his dad, which was something he craved, and the whole family is so much happier.”

Charlotte, who studied criminology at university and has a post-graduate diploma in child and adolescent mental health, is pleased with the way her team is working.

The multi-agency approach involves schools, social workers, the youth offending team and child mental health.

She said: “By working together we can help change things for the better for families in Bolton.”

Charlotte, is married to Michael, aged 37 and is step-mum Alfie, aged seven. Her experiences with Alfie have helped her to understand more about families and how parenting can be the most difficult job of all.

“People seem to have the impression they’ve failed when things go wrong with their children, but that’s far from the truth,” she said.

“Sometimes parents need a little help.”

Charlotte’s role is to enable parents to access the help they need and in turn they can talk to people who understand exactly what it’s like to live with a troublesome teenager.

She said: “We talk about small changes, big differences.

“Depending on how much work a parent puts into the course, they can get so much out of it.”

Charlotte’s hope is that her courses and the work she does with families will help some children avoid the criminal justice system and live happy lives at home with their parents.

Many teenagers receive a bad press, particularly those involved in criminal activity.

Charlotte said: “We are hoping to get to families before it all goes horribly wrong, before they get into the juvenile justice system.”

For more information about courses and seminars ring 01204 332917