ABSTRACTAMANDA LOUISE BARRETT. Establishing connections with mindful interactions: Impact of parent education on perceptions of self-awareness and mindful parenting practices. (Under direction of DR. CYNTHIA BAUGHAN) This study examined the impact of mindfully-based parent education plus text messaging support on parent perceptions of their connection with their child and on their perceptions of their own self-awareness and awareness of their parenting values and beliefs. The purpose of this study was to increase parents’ self-awareness (i.e., ability to tolerate emotional pain, attention to detail, easily distracted), awareness of their parenting (i.e., perceptions, values, and beliefs on parenting), and to strengthen the perceived connections they have with their children through mindful interactions. Increased self-awareness and stronger parent-child connections can create a strong foundation for social-emotional and cognitive development to occur. Using a mindfully-based social-emotional curriculum under an evidence-based multi-tiered social-emotional framework, parent education sessions where held and the impact was measured by comparing the results of pre/post surveys that were completed by participants. Results demonstrated a moderate impact on parents’ self-awareness, awareness of parenting values and beliefs and their perceived connection with their child after receiving the education. Informal reporting from parents elicited a strong interest in learning more about how to increase their self-awareness and how to strengthen their connection with their child. Participants reported that the supportive text messages using the BLOOMZ application was helpful, motivating and intentional.