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Boosting Father Engagement for School Readiness with Motivational Interviewing
This blog is for professionals in family support, behavioral health, substance use treatment, and social services, especially those working with fathers, children, and families. It offers insights and strategies for counselors, psychologists, social workers, health coaches, educators, and organizations focused on school readiness and family well-being.
In describing my passion for this workshop on Motivational Interviewing Strategies to Increase Family and Father Motivation for School Readiness, I must reflect on the experiences that have shaped my inherent interest in the male perspective and its potential impact on men’s lives and those around them.
While working as a psychologist in the UK, I had the privilege of working with male boarding school survivors, where the theme of disconnection in their lives emerged due to separation and trauma. These survivors were sent away from their families to isolative environments, often filled with abusive behavior from authorities in the schools. This was seen as a rite of passage into manhood, training boys to endure emotional pain and press forward despite it. Unfortunately, a consequence of this approach was a profound inability to feel safe with emotionality, which impacted many of their relationships and self-esteem. I observed that this theme was not isolated to boarding school survivors but extended to many other men in the therapeutic environment.
I further explored my interest in the male perspective while working in the U.S. Air Force Surgeon General’s office as a co-investigator on a study examining substance use. Military service is a traditionally male-dominated culture, so many of the advantages and disadvantages associated with traditional male roles were evident. In this study, we hypothesized about the potential impact of male gender roles on substance use counselors, specifically focusing on difficulties related to masculine gender roles, which were measured using the Gender Role Conflict Scales (GRCS), and conformity to masculine gender roles, assessed by the Conformity to Masculine Norms Inventory (CMNI). The GRCS evaluates the internal and external conflicts associated with traditional male roles, such as the importance of success, power, competition, restrictive emotionality, and conflicts between work and family relations. The CMNI examines how much a person conforms to traditional masculine roles, such as winning, dominance, emotional control, and self-reliance.
The study found that both male and female substance use counselors, as well as the populations they treated, exhibited higher levels of conformity to masculine roles and conflict related to those roles. However, this did not impact the counselors' ability to deliver the intended Motivational Interviewing (MI) intervention. MI, a well-established evidence-based method for behavior change, has its roots in the substance use field.
Currently, as an expert in MI and consultant for organizations working with family and childhood development, I focus on helping fathers tap into their intrinsic motivation to connect with their children and the family system in early childhood. This is often challenging for many men, as this role is not traditionally their primary focus.
I am excited to contribute to this workshop with MI strategies that will enhance the skillset of those working to engage fathers and families. These strategies will help fathers contribute to the overall well-being of their children, assist them in reaching their developmental milestones, and create positive, lasting impacts into their teenage years and adulthood.
