Fatherhood Channel

NBA All Star Chris Bosh told 300 celebrities, athletes and philanthropists that protecting freedom is more important than basketball. Together with Miami Heat President Pat Riley and owner Mickey Arison, Bosh is leading efforts to ensure returning veterans have community support to help them return home strong.

“I Am ME” profiles individuals and couples who are touching the lives of families and children in communities throughout the nation through Marriage Education. This week, Fatherhood Channel features Ellen Purcell of Northern Virginia, where she and her husband, Chuck, a retired Air Force pilot, have taught PAIRS classes together for 14 years.

While dad is away on his fourth military deployment, wife, Mary, and daughter, Abigail, 11, are teaming up to help other children and families strengthen relationships at home and with parents serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Long distance relationships are a challenge for millions of couples. As they began their college studies this year, Andrea and Alvaro have continued their relationship with commitment, imagination, and many of the new tools that help couples keep the flame of romance alive when miles keep them apart.

For many, learning to have conversations that matter about death and dying becomes an invitation to embrace the gift of life with passion and intensity.

Jacob Bradorsky beat 30,000 competitors to finish first in today’s Marine Corps Marathon. Marathons are becoming increasingly popular events for couples and families to join together.

“I Am ME” profiles individuals and couples who are touching the lives of families and children in communities throughout the nation through Marriage Education. This week, Fatherhood Channel features Edward Bastille of New Hampshire.

Members of the National Guard and Reserve who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan face some of the greatest challenges reconnecting with loved ones after they return home. A recent meeting in Tampa sponsored by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and National Healthy Marriage Resource Center reviewed current research and the urgent need for expanded services.

At a conference sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, PAIRS CEO Seth Eisenberg shared lessons from the frontlines of the battle to help America’s returning warriors succeed in the mission to preserve and protect their marriages and families after combat deployment.

A veteran Navy chaplain confided the surge of emotions and thoughts experienced as his helicopter landed amidst fierce enemy fire. “My thoughts immediately turned to loved ones far away. Had I told them everything that needed to be said? Had I let them know how much they meant to me? Were we complete with each other?” At a PAIRS Retreat, hundreds of deploying soldiers and spouses talk about death and loss as they learn to more fully embrace life and each other.

The funeral of Scott Jirtle, 29, reminds us of the daily sacrifices of military families and our sacred trust to the loved ones they leave behind.

Marriage education programs are becoming increasingly important to helping returning veterans strengthen family life after combat deployment. Veterans Administration and Pentagon officials are encouraging efforts to expand evidence-based programs nationwide. A training next month in San Diego will prepare Chaplains and behavioral health specialists from more than a dozen states to lead retreats for veteran couples throughout the country.

Along with hours in skills training to prepare for new careers, couples separated as a result of employment changes are increasingly turning to the Internet for help sustaining long-distance relationships. Marriage educators are embracing technology to bring evidence-based skills training online.

A study reveals children from military families impacted by deployment are experiencing above-average levels of emotional and behavioral difficulties. New programs are teaching couples to understand emotions, confide, deepen empathy, strengthen attachment and bonding as the foundation for helping children and preserving marriages.

With California facing a continued fiscal emergency and budget cuts reducing vital services to children, immigrants, prisoners, schools and others, two of the nation’s leading marriage education proponents are teaming up to strengthen families and neighborhoods.

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) reports substantial mental health and adjustment difficulties among servicemen and women returning from combat deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan. This week, Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called for leadership from America’s foundations and philanthropists, saying time is of the essence.

For soldiers returning from combat deployment to the combination of job and family stress while holding on to the attitude that human beings can be engineered like tanks, it’s no surprise that many are feeling hopeless, helpless, and discouraged from reaching out for support that could save their lives, families and marriages. Innovative educational approaches through VA Medical Centers that promote bonding, emotional understanding and expression, and deepen communication are addressing causes and symptoms of PTSD, strengthening marriages before and after deployment, and reducing factors that can lead to suicide.

Caring for service members and veterans impacted by traumatic brain injury has become an increasingly urgent national priority. A new publication from the Defense and Brain Injury Center and innovative programs offered through VA Hospitals in collaboration with PAIRS Foundation help caregivers and families address the impact of TBI, promote healing, and strengthen marital resilience.

Law enforcement, military and others involved in protecting America’s neighborhoods, security, and borders learn powerful skills to be effective in their careers. Sadly, those same skills that enable many to keep our nation’s homes, families and children safe too often cause these professionals to lose their own. For children especially, the price of that sacrifice may be paid over the course of their lives. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be that way. With a fraction of the effort and time it takes to develop skills to succeed in protecting our communities and nation, police officers, soldiers and others involved in security fields can learn practical skills and strategies for succeeding as husbands, wives, fathers and mothers.

PAIRS DTR, a free iPhone app available today from iTunes, helps couples, families, parents, and friends strengthen relationships. Developed by the nonprofit PAIRS Foundation, a leader in relationship skills training, PAIRS DTR for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad guides users through a practical, five-step communication exercise that can be posted on Facebook or shared by e-mail.