Often the most difficult to engage member of the family is a father on the periphery. These men frequently suffer from trauma histories that they have learned to cope with by using substances and other maladaptive behaviors. This workshop will focus on how to engage fathers who have distanced themselves from their children and help them make meaningful contact in order to stay connected and involved. Time will be spent on how to assess the effects of trauma and addiction, as well as therapeutic approaches best suited to effective treatment.
Participants will:
- Gain an understanding of what is meant by fatherhood engagement.
- Understand how issues of power can interfere with one’s ability to engage fathers.
- Learn how group treatment can bring fathers out of isolation and empower them.
- Develop strategies for helping fathers re-engage with their families.
- Explore how family therapy can be structured to include an estranged father.
Charles C. Daniels, Jr. is a noted Therapist, DRK Entrepreneur, Author and Instructor who has taught at Simmons College and Harvard University. After suffering from the absence of his own father, Charles took an unexpected approach to identify the barriers that prevented his own father from remaining engaged in his life. That personal journey transformed into a mission to serve fathers nation-wide, so they can remain positively engaged in their children lives. His faith has led to the creation of Fathers UpLift, the nation’s first outpatient mental health center dedicated to paternal health and male family engagement. It offers an innovative, self-sustaining, and scalable clinical mental health care model. The programs provided by Fathers’ UpLift help fathers address their often-complicated challenges and needs associated with becoming and being a father, while also helping their children, families, and society overall.
