PsychWorks, Inc.
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Behavioral Healthcare For
The 21st Century
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Roots & Wings - A Parenting Guide
As parents we give our children strong roots. These roots include our family's heritage, customs, culture, traditions, and values. Roots create a sense of identity so our children feel they belong. With a secure and supportive foundation, our children become willing to take risks that will benefit them -- healthy risks. Each healthy risk helps them to grow wings for adulthood. They develop strength to use skills, make decisions, and deal with problems. They have healthy values that help them survive and succeed despite any obstacles they may face. But many dangerous influences affect our children. For example, children are more likely to develop problems with alcohol or other drugs if a family member is chemically dependent. Influences that increase the chances of our children having problems and getting in trouble are called risk factors. Risk Factors are not the same as healthy risks mentioned above. Children grow and learn when they take healthy risks, such as trying to learn a new skill. Risk factors, on the other hand, are conditions and behaviors that put children in danger -- a family history of alcoholism, low and failing grades, friends who use alcohol and other drugs, for example. Parents are not helpless in the face of risk factors. While we cannot change our family heredity or many other risk factors, we can make sure we give our children a healthy life with consistency, clear rules, and open communication. Children with a healthy family life are better able to make responsible decisions. They are less at risk for drug use, teen parenthood, delinquency, and dropping out. Roots and Wings teaches parents how to influence their children in positive ways. It offers ideas on how to prevent problems and protect children from danger. Prevention efforts need to start early in a child's life and must be reinforced regularly. We can do this by building protectors all along the way. We can set standard and look for the best time to teach them to our children. We can provide helpful bridges and boundaries, honor feelings, and rely on tiruals and traditions. We can help our children develop resiliency, the ability to withstand and bounce back from problems. In this workshop, parents discuss their family strengths and learn how to build on them. They also learn from experiences of others. Many of the activities in Roots and Wings are drawn from situations involving alcohol and drug use, but ideas in this workshop can help with dangers children face. We can use ideas to strengthen the protectors in our family so our children can grow into productive and happy adults. This is twelve hour program, segmented into 6, 2 hour weekly sessions. It is an interactive multimedia presentation requiring group participation. This workshop is available to individuals in groups and to community organization such as schools, Parent Teacher Associations, churches, and any other not for profit group who would like to present this program. For independents persons interested in this workshop, it is presented at a minimal fee which covers the cost of the materials. Groups are generally limited to 10 couples or 20 individuals. ◊ This program was developed and presented under the auspices of Hanley-Hazelden Recovery Centers. |
