Supporting those balancing military and family life



Kate Rosenblum, Ph.D., a clinical developmental psychologist and clinical associate professor in psychiatry, leads the Security Clearance blog.

Some excerpts:

All parents want to protect their children from harm and keep them safe. Military parents have a dual commitment, to protect their children and protect our nation. So Father's Day is an opportunity to call attention to the special challenge of balancing military and family life, and to honor those who both strive to be good fathers across a great distance during deployment, and those who remain as primary caregivers when their spouses/partners deploy.

It's also an opportunity to remember the hard work of fathering after deployment, when eagerly anticipated reunion brings both joy and challenges, including reintegrating the service member or veteran back into the family unit, reestablishing roles and routines, and the potentially necessary adjustment to combat-related injuries (both visible and invisible).

Military kids and military families sacrifice and serve alongside service members.

As researchers from both civilian and active duty backgrounds, we work to understand resilience in the face of challenge. What we find is that individual resilience depends on a context of relationships. Strong relationships among service members in their units - and strong connections with friends, extended family, teachers, co-workers, and others in the broader community, for family members who stay behind - provide the support needed to bear the burden of separation and worry.

The need for support and a strong community continues during the period of reintegration after the service member returns.

Read the full article on CNN's Security Clearance blog site: http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/17/far-away-fathers-day-for-parents-in-uniform-puts-focus-on-balancing-military-family-life/