BACKGROUND
Understanding, Supporting, Promoting (the Family): A parenting support programme for single women in vulnerable situations.
Chosen by the Rotary Club of Como as its service project for the 2020–2021 Rotary year, the initiative supports the Gaudium Vitae family home in San Fermo della Battaglia.
THE IDEA
The most difficult step after the end of a relationship, especially one marked by violence, neglect and/or emotional hardship, is ensuring that the future is not determined by the past that has just been experienced.
Children’s emotional development can only be supported by the emotional competence of the adults who care for them, first and foremost their parents, who are the primary models in the educational relationship.
Mothers living in residential communities need more than general support services. They need not to be left alone and to rediscover themselves as the people who know themselves and their children best.
Along the path towards independence, it is essential to create a space for listening and dialogue about family life. While living in a community naturally encourages shared experiences and mutual support, the subject of family often remains a silent one that each person carries within their own personal story.
The purpose of the project is to address this issue by starting from one of the family’s most fundamental dimensions: parenthood. Beginning with the mother-child relationship, the project gradually broadens its focus to the family as a whole. This approach gives mothers the opportunity to strengthen their role in their children’s lives while receiving support in understanding and passing on the values of family life—an area that can often be particularly challenging.
THE PROJECT
The project is based on three key concepts, considered the foundations for building a healthy and supportive family environment for children:
– Understanding the issues related to raising children, taking into account the woman’s personal history (or that of the couple, where applicable).
– Supporting the mother-child relationship by encouraging parental empowerment, effective communication and problem-solving skills, helping mothers become aware of their own strengths.
– Promoting the exchange of parenting skills among mothers, strengthening the parent-child relationship and helping to prevent periods of developmental crisis.
MISSION
The objective is to help mothers become more aware of their own feelings towards their children and of the expectations they project onto them, enabling them to recognise and develop their own personal resources within family relationships, both now and in the future.
Understanding and expressing one’s emotions improves relationships with others, strengthens the parent’s role as a genuine educational model, and above all enhances the relationship each person has with themselves.
STRUCTURE / ACTIVITIES
- Getting to know the mothers and their children: an initial one-to-one meeting with each mother to learn about her personal history and begin building a relationship (one hour for each mother).
- Shared observation: the educational specialist will take part in the everyday interaction between mother and child, within their normal living environment.
With the mother’s consent, a video recording may be made of a routine interaction between mother and child. Each recording will then be reviewed together with the mother during a dedicated follow-up session with the professionals, focusing on the positive moments observed.
The discussion during the video review will give the parent the opportunity to focus on the child’s expressions, encouraging observation and empathy skills while positively reinforcing sensitive and effective parenting behaviours.
The intervention is based on the principle that the mother is the person who knows her child best. For this reason, she plays an active role throughout the discussion, and the process is designed to support her in her role as a parent.
Each mother will take part in two observation sessions:
the first at the beginning of the project;
the second during the final evaluation and conclusion of the project.
Group meetings (five sessions) will bring the mothers together in a natural learning environment where they can share their experiences, starting from the recognition of their own needs and emotions. The meetings will be led by a psychologist and an educational specialist, and the topic of each session will be agreed upon jointly by the professionals and the participants.
Total duration of the group meetings: 15 hours
TIMELINE AND DURATION
The project will run for six months.
The total duration of the project is 50 hours.
COSTS
The total cost of the project is €3,000, excluding VAT where applicable.
The material contained in this document is confidential and may not be disclosed or distributed to third parties.
Dr Sonia Monticelli
Psychologist and Psychotherapist
