Parent Counseling May Benefit Military Fathers Upon Return from Combat

Various factors can affect soldiers who are deployed overseas. The recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have taken a toll on many who returned home after witnessing countless horrors during the two brutal, longstanding wars.

Dr. Tova Walsh is the author of a recent three-year study that was released this week in the journal Heath & Social Work. The research was conducted at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and sought to examine parenting skills of fathers who were returning from combat deployment.

Walsh and colleagues interviewed 14 fathers of children aged six and under who were part of a group parenting class called STRoNG Military Families. The parenting program is offered to military service members and provides a 10-week parent and child program to provide a stronger familial bond that may have been lost during time spend apart. The program's goals are to increase parenting skills, meet other military families, learn and practice self-care skills, connect with local resources, receive support for positive parent-child interactions, and provide a safe environment to learn and grow.

The program's focus is on families with children aged six and younger because 37% of the two million U.S. children of military service members are under the age of six. Problems may exist among the father's parenting skills as well as the child's recollection.

"A service member who deploys when his child is an infant and returns home when the child is a toddler may find an entirely different child," said Dr. Walsh in a news release. "Under these circumstances, fathers find that it takes substantial effort to rebuild their relationship with their child."

Problems reported from the study include some fathers' suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as well as other types of trauma, and the fathers' inability to stay calm when his child acted up, resulting in feelings of stress.

These types of parenting programs could prove to be valuable especially if the deployed combatants are willing to learn and improve their parenting skills. Familial strain is often a result from time spent overseas. The United States greatly honors and supports their servicemen and such programs will help them be the best person and parent that they can be.