Where Can You Find Parent Support Groups

The simple answer to the question in the title is, on the internet. For parents who need understanding, advice, feedback and more than just a pat on the shoulder, there's a support group listed on the web for every advocacy borne out of the sacrifices of parents.

You'll find that there are a lot of support groups listed for families with children who have learning disabilities, autism, and similar maladies. Children with special needs can drain the energy of parents but their love for the kids overcomes this and the support groups are there to reinforce that.

There are also quite a number of support groups for families afflicted with child abuse, for parents with teenage runaways as well as for those whose teenage daughters are pregnant or whose teenage sons will become fathers at too young an age. Such groups are just as prominent on the web given the gravity of their family crisis. A few clicks and parents can connect with the right people to help them out.

One may ask the same question, Where can you find parent support groups, and someone else may answer, in the phone book. Perhaps the local chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous may be listed as well as some drug rehab centers but not necessarily for other addictions and vices such as gambling. Fortunately, information on the support groups for these ruinous habits can be found on the web, too.

Support groups for parents who have separated from their spouses exist as well, given the frequency of divorce in the U.S. One parent households are a rising statistic. Being both mother and father to one or more children is not a natural situation. Normally, the different perspectives of both mom and dad can enrich the upbringing of the child and strengthen each parent.

In the workplace, it's difficult taking on the workload of a co-worker who's on sick leave, on vacation or, worse, who's been laid off, but adjustments can be made and the flexibility of people stabilizes the work flow eventually. At home, the lack of one adult for a longer stretch of time than the absence of a work colleague can take its emotional toll on all family members. Soon enough, the parent seeks help from a support group.

Whether actually voiced or simply searched for on the 'net, Where can you find parent support groups is a query that has become increasingly common as people seek support emotionally and psychologically from the heartbreak occurring in their homes.

The support level may vary from group to group but parents are of course free to find the cluster of fellow parents who not only share their concerns and experiences but who can best assist them as they deal with the crisis and its aftermath. It all depends on what such parents are looking for in a support group.

The question Where can you find parent support groups usually has a follow up question such as, What do I expect to get from a parent support group. Some parents with problems eventually firm up what they need from such a support group: solid advice on how to deal with or solve the problem, the sharing of similar experiences which will hopefully provide the insight necessary for further understanding, actual referrals to resource persons or professionals who can help improve their situation and so on. Such parents are proactive enough to try and do something about their crisis.

Other parents, however, who may be just as deeply troubled by their personal or family problems turn inward and become uncommunicative. They've asked themselves the same question, Where can you find parent support groups but they've not openly asked any of their relatives or friends about it due to shame, embarrassment or a deep sense of privacy. If they have a computer, that may be to their advantage because, in spite of their reticence, using a computer to seek out a support system is a very personal and very private act. Chances are, such parents will find the support group they need on the web just like many others have done.

After years of interaction with such bands of people, many parents attest that the most effective parent support groups are those which are composed of parents who have gone through it themselves and survived. They affirm that professionals such as lawyers, psychologists, therapists, psychiatrists and others who belong to support groups as resource persons or advisers but who don't have the insight of actual experience in their problem cannot be of much help. Such professionals should be parents themselves who have suffered the pain and who have become stronger, more confident parents.

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