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Parents ask questions that were placed on their table to their children during the Families OverComing Under Stress program event, “Having Dinner with the Family” at the Lincoln Military Housing Family Center on Feb. 28. FOCUS collaborated with Lincoln Military Housing to hold this event.

Photo by Cpl. Antwaun L. Jefferson

Building family cohesion one dinner at a time

28 Feb 2013 | Cpl. Antwaun L. Jefferson Marine Corps Base Quantico

The Families OverComing Under Stress program and Lincoln Military Housing teamed up to provide families aboard the base with a fun and educational event called “Having Dinner with the Family” at the Lincoln Military Housing Family Center on Feb. 28.

FOCUS is a resiliency-building program of the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery.  According to the FOCUS website, the program is designed for military families and children facing the multiple challenges of combat-operational stress during wartime. FOCUS promotes family strengths and supports couples and parents to help manage the challenges of military life.

Families who attended not only enjoyed a delicious meal provided by Lincoln Military Housing, but also enhanced their innate strengths by learning a fun way to stay close as a family by having a family meeting.

Three dinner courses were served: salad, entree and dessert. During each course, families discussed scheduling regular family meetings, who should be the leader and ground rules that should be in used during the meetings. Throughout the dinner, parents modeled praise, encouragement and active listening, asked open-ended questions, and supported everyone when sharing.

Attending events such as this, and other programs through FOCUS or Lincoln Military Housing provides families with activities and new techniques to practice core resiliency skills, including emotional regulation, communication, problem-solving, and realistic goal-setting.

“The FOCUS staff has greatly enjoyed collaborating with Lincoln Military Housing for various family events,” said Lance Sharp, resiliency services coordinator, FOCUS. “The mutual desire to provide opportunities to enhance family closeness led to the development of this Family Skill Building Group event. We look forward to co-hosting future events.”

FOCUS events are free and provide confidential resiliency training to families in all stages of deployment or separation. To sign up for future family events with FOCUS, call 703-784-0189 or visit www.quantico.usmc-mccs.org.


Marine Corps Base Quantico