[ Browse by Service Category : Support Groups : Sub-Topics of Parenting/Family Support Groups (23) ]
Adoption and Foster/Kinship Care Support Groups
Mutual support groups whose members are individuals who have adopted a child or are considering or in the process of adoption, birth parents who relinquished a child for adoption, people who were, themselves adopted, foster care providers, children in foster care, kinship caregivers (paternal or maternal grandparents, aunts, uncles and other family members, members of a child's tribe or clan, godparents, stepparents, neighbours, friends of the family or other adults who can serve as "family"), children cared for by relatives under a formal or informal kinship care arrangement and/or adults who, as children, were raised in foster or kinship care. Groups may also be structured for adoptees, siblings and/or birth parents who have been reunited; older kinship caregivers who have taken on an unexpected parenting role later in life; and people who have other kinship issues, e.g., grandparents and other relatives who have been denied access to a grandchild or other youngster due to a death or divorce in the child's family. Meeting formats may include in-person, telephone or Internet options.
Marriage and Relationships Support Groups
Mutual support groups whose members are individuals or couples who want to learn to build healthy, lasting relationships and/or work through problems such as poor communication or infidelity in a current relationship or marriage. Included are groups for people who have never been married, are divorced, widowed, in a relationship or presently married, and want to learn to develop intimacy, communicate effectively, work as a team to solve problems, manage conflicts without damaging closeness and preserve and enhance love, commitment and friendship within the context of a marriage or relationship. The groups meet in-person, by telephone or via the Internet; and provide an opportunity for participants to share their experience, strengths and hopes, understand their relationships and work through related emotions.
Parent Support Groups
Mutual support groups for parents who share a common characteristic or circumstance such as being single parents, dual career parents, multiple birth parents, parents with children who are out of control, or parents of children with disabilities, who come together for educational and social purposes as well as for mutual support. Meeting formats may include in-person, telephone or Internet options.
Pregnancy/Childbirth Support Groups
Mutual support groups whose members are pregnant individuals or individuals who have had difficulties in areas relating to family planning, pregnancy and childbirth. Included are groups for individuals who are pregnant for the first time, individuals who are contemplating a home birth, breastfeeding individuals, families making decisions relating to birth control, individuals who have had a cesarean birth, who are at high risk for a problem pregnancy and parents of premature or high-risk infants. The groups meet in-person, by telephone or via the Internet; and provide an opportunity for participants to share their experience, strengths and hopes, understand their relationships and work through related emotions.
Separation/Divorce Support Groups
Mutual support groups whose members are adults and/or children who are experiencing the trauma of a divorce or a broken relationship. The groups provide an opportunity for participants to understand their relationships past and present; work through feelings of grief, loss, rejection, guilt and other emotions related to their experience; and gain a sense of their own identity. Meeting formats may include in-person, telephone or Internet options.
The above terms and definitions are part of the Taxonomy of Human Services, used here by permission of INFO LINE of Los Angeles.