This week, you’ll notice a new name and a new look on this page. The Parent Resources section of Mad in America’s website is now officially the Family Resources section.
This shift has been ongoing for some time. Originally, we envisioned the mission of our parents’ section, which debuted as The Concerned Parents Project in early 2018, as serving the informational and support needs of parents of minor children. It quickly became apparent that just as often, these concerns span adult children 18 and beyond, and can involve grandparents, aunts and uncles, siblings, spouses, and/or significant others in a younger person’s circle. So we are aiming to address family issues in the broader sense.
To that end, our online parent support groups, which debuted in fall 2018, now serve the relatives of both children, adolescents, and adults. Our featured resources, blogs, Q&As, information on psychiatric drugs and alternatives, research reports, podcasts, videos, and relevant news from around the web do the same. Recently, we’ve added a new interview feature in which we ask researchers and others to talk about their work in practical terms that parents and families can apply to their own lives.
Looking ahead, we plan to produce more such interviews and more frequent podcasts (suitable for listening on-the-go) and occasional investigative journalism pieces. We also seek more personal-story submissions from young people themselves and you, their family members. We’d also love to publish your short, themed video or audio recordings on the topics, “What I Wish I Could Tell My Family” and “What I Want My Child to Know.” Please email [email protected] for submission details. We’re also keen to know what type of content you’d like to see more (or less) of. Feel free to write to me, Family Resources Editor Miranda Spencer, at [email protected].
Miranda,
I hope Mad in America will really explore the healing power of life-long attachment relationships especially when childhood abuse occurs and the person’s attachment system is deeply traumatized. When understood correctly and lived appropriately, these attachment concepts, as laid out by Bowlby, literally can heal the worst of trauma and dissociation and all the extreme states that come with those. The science is there, but unfortunately, too many of the experts try to do what only family can do as the primary attachment figures in the person’s life.
I’m glad to see Mad in America embracing the larger family system because one never knows which family member will/can step up, and with some training and understanding, fulfill the healing role the person needs. Ideally it would be the parent or spouse, but I’ve got a newphew struggling with attachment issues because he was adopted and from what I’ve been told his older sister is the best at looking past her brother’s issues and loving him despite and through them.
If there is ever anything I could do to assist this section, I’d be happy to do so. I had to learn it all on my own: that’s something I don’t wish on anyone else.
Sam
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