FOCUS

Families Overcoming Under Stress

Stress is defined by the World Health Organization as “any type of change that causes physical, emotional or psychological strain. Industry statistics show that approximately 23% of Veterans experience PTSD, 20% of first responders, 22% of cancer survivors suffer from some form of lifetime PTSD, and 18.6% of families raising children with special needs met the criteria for PTSD! Mental health is at epidemic levels. “The World Health Organization has called attention to a “massive” increase in anxiety and depression globally. There is a serious lack of service options for people to get the essential help they need. More often than not if people can find help, they are unable receive sufficient care due to the financial strains. The pandemic has exacerbated mental health issues and supplemented help is needed NOW!

A small amount of stress can help our performance and ensure we naturally protect ourselves, however, too much stress often leads to feeling overwhelmed and can result in a fight, flight or freeze response. The damaging effects of stress incurred by cancer victims, military families and first responders and families raising children with special needs include (but are not limited to ): depression, anxiety, heart disease, withdrawing from others/isolation, problems with sleep, marital problems, increased general health problems, poor judgment, and increase in substance uses.

Learning how to cope with stress is essential for our mental and physical well being and our ability to maintain healthy relationships. We all know someone who has suffered from depression, anxiety, or some level of PTSD. The question is what can we do to help, how do we give others access to the knowledge and tools so they can live happier, healthier and less stress-filled lives?

The key to living a less stressful life is to educate and counsel people to understand their stressors and their triggers to help them and those that they love, how to communicate and address their needs.

FOCUS is an evidence based program originally developed by UCLA and Harvard and has been tested extensively in the US Navy. FOCUS has been developed for people and families coping with loss from cancer, families raising children who have special needs, adoptive families, military families, veterans and service members, and first responders.

FOCUS is an individual and family level resiliency training program designed to assist people experiencing high levels of stress and to prevent greater problems from occurring in the face of further stressors. Based on leading evidence-based resiliency building models, FOCUS aims to strengthen individual and family cohesion and parent-child, marital, and co-parenting relationships.

The program is structured around development of a shared understanding of past experiences, as well as skills building in the areas of emotional regulation, communication, problem solving, goal setting, parenting children who have experienced trauma, and managing any trauma and loss reminders.

The core component of the FOCUS program is six to eight skills-building modules delivered over eight to twelve sessions. When possible, the whole family is encouraged to participate in the program.

FOCUS can be conducted virtually so participants can attend from across the country and during times that work for their busy schedules.