MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- Families Overcoming Under Stress (FOCUS) resilience training is now available at MacDill for service members and their family members to learn skills to address many of the changes and challenges that military families experience.
When military parents fulfill occupational duties, their children and families can face many challenges including moves, changes in family routines and dealing with trauma or stress reminders.
There may be times when these challenges can be overwhelming, particularly if a parent is dealing with the effects of post-traumatic stress and/or injuries.
“FOCUS is a multi-session resilience training program for active-duty military families and couples,” said Dr. Fermina L Roman, MacDill resilience trainer. “Sessions are organized around the development of a family timeline which is used to help families manage feelings, improve communication and learn problem-solving and goal-setting skills. FOCUS resilience training is generally six to eight sessions but can be delivered flexibly, depending on the family’s needs.”
FOCUS is based on over 20 years of research with children and families facing challenges and adversities in many different settings. It has successfully provided services to thousands of participants at dozens of sites and continues to expand, including new online availability for those who are remotely located.
“FOCUS provides a wide range of effective prevention services customized to the needs of military service members and their loved ones,” explained Dr. Roman. “Since the program’s inception in 2008, FOCUS has established that a family-centered program is both feasible and effective for military families, couples and recovering warriors.”
Grounded in decades of research on family resilience and prevention programs, FOCUS was adapted for military families by a team from UCLA and Harvard Medical School. Since 2008, FOCUS Program has provided state of the art family resilience services to military families, children and couples.
FOCUS is now located at designated Navy, Marine Corps, Army, and Air Force installations, and offered to all military families, including Special Operations Command, through the Department of Defense Office of Military Community & Family Policy.
Programs offered through FOCUS include:
FOCUS is a multi-session resilience-training program for active duty military families and couples. Sessions are organized around the development of a family timeline that is used to help families manage feelings, improve communication, and learn problem-solving and goal-setting skills. By helping the family tell its story, family members build on existing strengths to enhance family unit cohesion and overall functioning. FOCUS resilience training is generally six to eight sessions but can be delivered flexibly, depending on the family’s needs.
FOCUS Resilience Training – Resilience Training is designed to strengthen couples and families in readiness for tomorrow. FOCUS provides personalized training in the context of each family’s story and individual goals. It teaches families practical skills to help them meet the challenges of military life such as deployments, stress, injury, and other transitions.
Consultations – Consultations offer education to community providers and partners, as well as to parents and couples. These provide guidance and professional expertise on a specific topic surrounding the impact of military life on the family. These 30-60 minute meetings cover family and child centered topics such as behavior changes during deployment or reintegration, or family- or couple-level preparations for future transitions. Consultations are also provided around specific trauma, grief, or loss issues. Following the consultation, families can choose to participate in FOCUS resilience training or be linked to other appropriate services.
Skill Building Groups – Skill Building Groups provide an introduction to the key skills taught in FOCUS resilience training. These interactive groups are generally 90 minutes in length. The target audience can be flexible from unit member participation to parents, families, or children in specific age groups (school-aged children, teenagers, parents, or entire families).
Educational Workshops – Workshops generally cover a specific topic, such as individual or unit level stress management or developmental reactions to deployment or other transitions. They can be tailored to address topics for any stage of deployment and are approximately 60 minutes long.
Briefs – Briefs typically include an overview of FOCUS, education about the impact of military life on couples and families and the types of resilience training strategies that can be helpful. Briefs range in length from 15 to 90 minutes depending on the request.
The MacDill FOCUS site is located at Building 143, 2600 Pink Flamingo Avenue, MacDill AFB, Florida, and is open on select days by appointment only for in-person FOCUS sessions. TeleFOCUS provides video teleconferencing sessions via a secure Zoom platform. Please contact Dr. Fermina Roman, the MacDill FOCUS Resilience Trainer to set up your in-person or virtual appointment by calling (813) 981-4387 or email: MacDill@focusproject.org