UConn Health Southington Teams with Main Street Community Foundation to Pilot Free Parent Group Sessions to Improve Mental Health for Parents and Children During COVID-19 Pandemic

Parenting is never easy, and it’s made even harder during the never-ending COVID-19 pandemic.

“Parenting is hard! It’s been made much harder in the fight against COVID-19, which has taken a mental health toll on both parents and children,” said assistant professor and outpatient child and adolescent psychiatrist at UConn Health. says Dr. David P. FitzGerald, director of the clinic. .

Fitzgerald reports a surge in depression and anxiety among families during the ongoing pandemic.During COVID, increased stress levels have led to child and adolescent psychiatry at UConn Health. Outpatient clinics have tripled the number of calls from parents seeking treatment appointments for their children.

But pandemic or not, parents and children can feel stress, anger, sadness, and anxiety. UConn Health expert said.

Given the increased demand for child psychiatric appointments during COVID-19 and the lack of sufficient provider capacity to meet these higher demands, UConn Health experts recommend that parent group counseling sessions We wanted to work to increase access by providing

Thanks to a generous $150,000 grant from the Bradley H. Barnes and Leila U. Barnes Memorial Trust of the Main Street Community Foundation, a new innovative parenting group pilot program begins at UConn Health Southington as The Child & Family Development Program it was done.

“Parents have a strong desire to be advocates and teachers for their children. Increasing support and educational resources is critical to keeping parents on a productive path,” emphasizes FitzGerald. To do.

On the evening of January 26, UConn Health Southington and the Main Street Community Foundation met with local Southington officials and clinicians to celebrate the successful launch of a new free parent group pilot program.

Southington City Council Speaker Victoria Triano called the new child and family development program the ‘gem’ of the Southington community at a celebratory event.

A new pilot program includes a group to help parents manage their children’s behavior problems, a group to improve the parent-child emotional connection, and a group for parents of children/teenagers with neurodevelopmental disorders, especially autism spectrum disorders. We offer several different parent groups, such as the support group for Free parenting group programs also offer free educational resources to help parents deal with behavioral issues during this pandemic’s increased stress, which impacts the mental health of parents and children alike. doing.

“Training parents on group-based child behavior strategies is effective. Research shows that working with parents helps parents better manage their own behavior, resulting in more effective parental and child behavior. It has been shown that it may be possible to combine improving

“Working closely with parents has the potential to really improve the social and emotional development of children,” says Dr. Carolyn Greene, co-director of the new program.Her research also focuses on emotional regulation and emotional socialization parenting behaviors.

This new program will also refer parents or their children to UConn Health’s clinical services in need.

Based at UConn Health Southington, the pilot program leverages detailed training certifications obtained by co-directors FitzGerald and Greene. tune in to children When tune in to teens An online platform resource of programs and materials, videos and handouts developed by the University of Melbourne, Australia. These programs teach emotionally intelligent parenting and help parents better understand their child’s social and emotional development. Additionally, UConn Health Southington’s educational resources include a lending library for children, adolescents, and families.

“Parents can actually better understand their children’s emotions and, as a result, learn to interact more with their children on a daily basis and protect their social-emotional development as they grow,” says FitzGerald. . “Parents can act as their children’s first teachers and emotional coaches to help them and motivate them to solve problems.”

Successful parenting is all about collaboration, according to FitzGerald and Greene. Together, parents and children can identify, verbalize, and embrace their own negative emotions, and figure out what to do together to help their child learn to solve problems. Parents should also always avoid avoiding or denying their feelings. Additionally, always instill positivity whenever possible to help guide your children’s future responses.

This pilot program will launch at UConn Health Southington this fall and is already making a positive impact on parents in Southington.

“The parents in our group are feeling really good. They’re learning together and from each other,” Fitzgerald shared happily. I’m starting to realize that I’m not the only one with this problem, other parents are having the same problem.”

The enthusiasm of the guardians has been transmitted. One of her delighted parents said her parent group was “sent from heaven,” she tells UConn Health.

“We teach parents how to work more effectively with their children,” says FitzGerald. “And parenting takes practice. We want parents to feel confident, competent and comfortable parenting.”

“Parenting is very important to a child’s identity and to every child in the family,” emphasizes FitzGerald. “We need to ensure

An adaptation course is taken to keep the whole family on track. If you can identify problem behavior, you can regulate it and create fewer conflicts at home, at school, and with other children. ”

In turn, the pilot program will further grow and expand Southington’s resource library of tools for parents and children, expand partnerships with Southington Public Schools to expand opportunities for school staff training, and develop school professional training opportunities. We look forward to providing a resource repository for .

UConn Health Based in Southington Child and Family Development Program It’s in the pilot stage. Southington parents with children ages 5 to 17 are eligible for the program. Interested Southington parents can call (860) 523-3783 to apply to join the parenting group. The parent group will meet at 1115 West St, Southington, CT.