Conducting conversations with students' parents is an important and constant part of teachers' professional practice. Teacher education programmes are responsible for preparing the foundations for teacher-parent cooperation; however, throughout the training, there are few opportunities for preservice teachers (PSTs) to practice interacting with parents and it is evident that at the beginning of their career, teachers are insufficiently prepared to manage this aspect of the professional requirements. The current study examined the issue of preparing PSTs to handle parent-teacher relationships, using simulations that involve the participation of a professional actor. Applying a qualitative approach and a case-study methodology, data were collected from 52 PSTs using three tools: written reflections, interviews, and focus groups, in order to learn about PSTs' perceptions about the simulation experience and its effectiveness in preparing them to handle parent-teacher conversations. Analysis of the findings revealed that the PSTs mentioned three principles that guided their understanding of how to cope with this task, namely, the emotional, behavioural, and conceptual dimensions that came into play through the simulation. This study contributes to our theoretical understanding of the issue by expanding the concept of 'parental awareness in education' and by focusing on empathic abilities.