THE SUMMER OF BEING INTENTIONAL: A PERSONAL CALL TO ACTION

THE SUMMER OF BEING INTENTIONAL: A PERSONAL CALL TO ACTION
By Dr. James C. Rodríguez, MSW, CADC
President & CEO, Fathers & Families Coalition of America
Author of "The Purpose Within: Like The Phoenix Out of the Ashes" (coming soon)
This summer isn’t just another season. It’s a calling.

We live in a world where burnout is normalized. Healing others often comes at the cost of forgetting ourselves. Leaders, clinicians, teachers, counselors, advocates, and parents are stretched so thin that they forget they carry the power to transform lives, starting with their own.

I created the Advanced Practitioner Credential™, the FFCA DiSC™ Program, and our QPR Suicide Prevention Gatekeeper Certification not as training checkboxes but as transformational opportunities to reclaim what we all deserve—purpose, clarity, power, and healing.

This summer, we’re not doing business as usual. We are claiming a new standard. We are stepping into the Summer of Being Intentional.

From the Ashes, We Rise

Over the past four decades, I’ve worn many titles—Combat Medic, social worker, professor, therapist, speaker, author, and nonprofit CEO. But the one that’s taught me the most? Father. That’s where I discovered the true meaning of legacy, vulnerability, and leading with love. When I lost my son Elias, it was not only a moment of devastation—it became the moment I began to understand purpose in its rawest form.

That’s why my upcoming book The Purpose Within: Like The Phoenix Out of the Ashes isn’t just my story—it’s a mirror. A mirror for all of us who’ve had to rebuild when life shattered everything we knew. A reminder that our deepest pain can birth our greatest strength. This book is about rising—not because we’re ready, but because we’re needed.

This same heartbeat lives in every FFCA training.

Why Our Trainings Matter

Too many professionals are showing up to the frontlines of family trauma, youth mental health, addiction, poverty, and generational pain without the support, tools, and training they truly need.

• It’s time we stop surviving on passion alone.
• Purpose without preparation becomes frustration.
• Compassion without competence can cost lives.

This summer, we invite you to go deeper. Make it a season of intentional growth. A season of elevation. A season of return to why you do this work in the first place.

The Advanced Practitioner Credential™ – Unlock Unlimited Possibilities™

This is more than a training. It’s a transformation.

In five intensive weeks—offered live or on-demand—you will engage with powerful frameworks including Logotherapy, Schema Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, the PERMA Model, Kintsugi, the Life Wheel, and the MAC+GRIT Model. You’ll complete workbook activities, scenario-based reflections, and assessments that connect theory with the heart of healing.

Whether you’re a therapist, coach, youth worker, parent partner, educator, or community leader, this experience will challenge and uplift you and prepare you to serve with renewed clarity and vision.

The FFCA DiSC™ Professional Certification

Our DiSC training is not just about personality styles but human connection. We’ve built a trauma-informed, culturally inclusive version of the DiSC model that professionals can use in therapy rooms, classrooms, boardrooms, correctional facilities, or home visits.

This certification gives you a language to identify patterns, enhance team communication, defuse conflict, and become a stronger leader. Our DiSC graduates gain more than insight—they gain tools that immediately enhance their practice.

QPR Suicide Prevention Training – Become a Gatekeeper

Every one of us knows someone who is silently struggling. The QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) Training equips you to recognize warning signs, offer immediate support, and connect individuals to life-saving resources.

This short but powerful certification should be available to every educator, case manager, parent leader, coach, and mental health professional.

Lives are depending on it.

Why Be Intentional Now?

Because our families are watching.

Because our communities are hurting.

Because too many helpers are exhausted.

Because you are more than your role—you are someone’s answer.

Because healing doesn’t happen by accident. It happens through intention.

This is the summer to realign, deepen your mission, lead with love, and rise again.

Join Us This Summer
Enroll in the Advanced Practitioner Credential™ Course and return to your roots purposefully.
Get certified in DiSC™ and build bridges where others build walls.
Train in QPR and become the one who knows how to respond when it matters most.
This is the Summer of Being Intentional.
Make it more than professional development. Make it a personal transformation.
Make it the moment you choose to rise again.
To register or learn more, visit:

www.fathersandfamiliescoalition.org

Together, we rise.

Lead with love,

Dr. James C. Rodríguez

President & CEO, Fathers & Families Coalition of America