Utah Family Month: Building Connection and Conversation
- Jun 9
- 3 min read
Utah family month occurs during the five weeks between Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. This time is dedicated to providing families with the tools they need to help prevent child abuse and neglect, as well as strengthen families. This month encourages families to engage in activities that build connection and conversation.
Protective Factors
Some tools that can be utilized to strengthen families and build connection are called Protective Factors and these include:
Enhancing Parental Resilience
Supporting the Development and Well-Being of Children
Facilitating Community Knowledge of Parenting and Child Development
Providing Opportunities for Social Connections
Parental Support in Times of Need
Lets dive a little deeper into each of these factors and understand how they can help strengthen family connection, prevent child abuse and neglect, and support the overall well-being of families.
Enhancing Parental Resilience
Parental Resilience is the ability to manage stress and function well through life's obstacles. Managing stress as a parent is a critical skill to learn in order to maintain a nurturing and healthy environment for your children. Parental resilience can help reduce the impact of stress on children, as well as help children learn self-regulation and problem-solving skills.
Some methods to help manage stress include:
Taking a break when you can
Deep breaths
Reaching out for support and talking to someone
Doing something you enjoy
Supporting the Development and Well-Being of Children
It’s important to support children's mental and emotional health with positive experiences that help them develop a sense of belonging in their family and community. Children's overall development is supported by physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
Ways you can support your child's well-being and help them feel like they belong include:
Provide a healthy living environment
Boost their self esteem and confidence by encouraging them, praising them, and helping them set realistic goals for themselves
Encourage your child to play and allow them to play with other children
Provide appropriate guidance and discipline
Establish consistent routines
Facilitating Community Knowledge of Parenting and Child Development
It’s especially important for parents and the community to know and understand developmental milestones as they’ll have informed expectations for children’s growth and be able to identify when professional support may be essential.
Be aware of warning signs in children’s emotions and behaviors (Anxiety, irritability, sadness, hyperactivity, persistent disobedience or aggression, persistent nightmares)
Talk with your child about feelings
Monitor children's TV/Screen use
Providing Opportunities for Social Connections
Having a support system is fundamental for everybody. There is strength in community and connecting with others; whether that’s with family, friends, neighbors, coworkers or other members of the community. It’s important to have people around that you can trust to support and help you.
Social connection can help people live healthier lives and improve their well-being
Social connection can serve as an outlet to cope with stressful life challenges
Having a support system can help us feel more connected with our families and show up for them when they need it too
Parental Support in Times of Need
Life can be stressful and we all face hardships at some point or another. Having access to basic needs is paramount in building strong families. Basic needs include stable housing, food, healthcare and mental health services, childcare, transportation, etc.
If you are ever in need of support, these are some resources that you can turn to:
211: Call 2-1-1, text 801-845-2211 or visit https://www.211.org/.
The Family Support Center: https://www.familysupportcenter.org/
Children’s Service Society of Utah: https://cssutah.org/
Switchpoint Childcare - Stepping Stones Tooele: https://switchpointchildcare.org/locations/stepping-stones-tooele/
Utah Food Bank - Find a Pantry: https://www.utahfoodbank.org/find-a-pantry/
Utah Community Action - HEAT Utility Assistance Program: https://utahca.org/heat-utility-assistance/
The Road Home - Emergency Shelter and Housing Assistance: https://theroadhome.org/
Utah Parent Center: https://utahparentcenter.org/
Help Me Grow Utah: https://helpmegrowutah.org/
The five protective factors are great tools to use to help families build connection, strength, and resilience. Aspen Ridge Counseling has family therapists that can offer more ways to help mend and improve family connection. Visit our website or give us a call at (801) 990-4300 to schedule an appointment. If you would like more information about Utah family month, check out the sources listed below.
