FOCUSing On Helping Military Families
by U.S. Marine Corps Laurie Pearson, Logistics Base Barstow July 31,
2020
In addition to myriad stressors in the world currently, military
service members and their families face unique challenges that
Families OverComing Under Stress are eager to assist with aboard
Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, Calif.
“Military life
comes with a very unique set of challenges,” said LaNell Mayberry,
who holds a Master of Arts in Psychology, is an Associate Marriage
and Family Therapist, as well as the FOCUS Family Resilience
Trainer. “Military families also have a strong set of skills already
in place including resourcefulness and resilience. Resilience
training helps families to build on their existing strengths. This
program provides a skill-building service that is evidence-based and
family-centered for military families and couples.”
LaNell Mayberry, the new Families OverComing Under Stress Family Resilience trainer, also holds a Master of Arts in Psychology and is an Marriage and Family associate therapist,
stands by a myriad FOCUS information and tools used to help military families aboard Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, California on July 7, 2020. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Laurie Pearson, Logistics Base Barstow)
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FOCUS
training provides opportunities for families to learn key resilience
skills including:
- Communication
- Problem solving
- Goal
setting
- Emotional regulation
- Coping with stress and
deployment
“These skills can be applied to help families and
couples address current challenges as well as help to prepare them
for future transitions,” Mayberry said. “Families seek FOCUS
services for a variety of reasons such as a desire to improve
communication, preparing for an upcoming deployment or
reintegration, learning how to problem solve as a family unit, or
how to better cope with stress, to name just a few examples of what
might bring a family to FOCUS. The great thing about FOCUS is that
nothing has to be wrong in order to benefit from participating in
the program. It can be implemented as a preventative service!”
FOCUS is a family-resilience training program that teaches
skills to help identify and utilize a family’s strengths, while
learning new skills that help families overcome specific challenges.
The program provides six to eight individual sessions where couples
and families can work toward their goals. “The FOCUS program is a
free service for active duty military families and couples that is
fun, interactive, and personalized to the couple or family that is
being served,” Mayberry said. “We also offer family-friendly hours
to provide flexible appointment times for busy military families.”
Some of the services provided by FOCUS include the following:
• Family consultations • Couple or family-level training •
Small group training • Workshops
“FOCUS Resilience
Training is designed to strengthen couples and families in readiness
for tomorrow,” Mayberry explained. “The program 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.”
Given current social
distancing protocols for the COVID-19 pandemic, in-person sessions
are available on an appointment only basis two days per week, but
the services remain fully available through a video teleconferencing
format using TeleFOCUS services.
The consultations offer
education to community providers and partners, as well as to parents
and couples. These services provide guidance and professional
expertise on a specific topic surrounding the impact of military
life on the family.
“The Skill Building Groups provide an
introduction to the key skills taught in FOCUS resilience training,”
Mayberry said. “These interactive groups are generally 90 minutes in
length. The target audience can be flexible from military member
participation, to parents, families, or children in specific age
groups.”
Educational workshops generally cover a specific
topic, such as individual or Unit-level stress management or
developmental reactions to transitions. 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.
Adapted for military families by a team
from the University of California Los Angeles and the Harvard
Medical School, FOCUS services are confidential, within the limits
of the law.
Mayberry comes into the FOCUS program all too
familiar with the challenges facing military families.
“I am
the spouse of an Air Force veteran, a mother of three, and an
Associate Marriage and Family Therapist,” she explained. “Before I
pursued marriage and family therapy, I was a preschool teacher with
the Department of Defense Child Development Centers for 15 years.
During that tenure as a DOD preschool teacher, I worked overseas in
England and Okinawa with the Air Force, followed by 11 years here at
Barstow working with Marine families. Prior to joining the FOCUS
team, I worked for a local non-profit behavior health facility
providing counseling services for active duty and veterans. I have a
strong connection to military families and love the fact that I have
the opportunity to serve them.”
She currently works in the
FOCUS office, located in building 126, behind the Chapel on base,
services at this location are temporarily limited to two days a week
for in-person family resilience training sessions out of
consideration for health and safety of all participants.
“Services are available to military families with children over the
age of three, military couples, and Wounded Warrior families,” she
said. “In-person sessions are by appointment only right now in
accordance with base health and safety regulations. Appointment
times are flexible to meet the needs of the families enrolled.
Families can also schedule TeleFOCUS appointments to participate in
training through our video teleconferencing platform.”
“I
encourage families to reach out to us if they are interested in
learning more about the program and to see if it might be a good fit
for them,” Mayberry said.
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