Parental Absence: Parenting through Family Separation is a supplemental parent-education module that was created as part of the Thrive Initiative. This module, like all of the Thrive supplemental modules, has been designed to be an additional and complementary learning opportunity for parents and caregivers who have completed one of the Thrive universal parent-education programs – Take Root, Sprout, Grow, or Branch Out.
When a parent or caregiver needs to parent from afar, regardless of the reason, the entire family unit will probably go through changes and adjustments. Parental Absence: Parenting through Family Separation supports and guides parents and caregivers who are at home with children and parents and caregivers who are away from the home. This supplemental module is designed to help coparents identify their strengths and gives them opportunities to consider strategies they could use to coparent during family separations.
Parental Absence: Parenting through Family Separation offers support to families by discussing topics such as the following:
- Identify your Circle of Support.
- Plan and prepare for a parental absence.
- Learn how to respond to children’s and youth’s reactions to the family separation.
- React to challenges and feelings that the parent who is away and the at-home parent may face.
- Consider how to reintegrate into a family unit when the parent who has been away returns.
Parental absence is stressful for parents, caregivers, and children. Learning coping strategies and working together to coparent in a new-to-you way can help you and your coparent build personal and family resilience as everyone navigates this journey together!
