FAMILY LIFE EDUCATION
Family Life Education utilizes the best of Social Science research and theory to provide individuals and families with knowledge and tools to function optimally. As described by the National Council on Family Relations website (ncfr.org), “Family Life Education is the professional practice of equipping and empowering family members to develop knowledge and skills that enhance well-being and strengthen interpersonal relationships through an educational, preventive, and strengths-based approach.”
The skills and knowledge needed for healthy family and individual functioning are widely known:
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strong communication skills
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knowledge of typical human development
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good decision-making skills, positive self-esteem
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healthy interpersonal relationships
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an Authoritative parenting style that fosters secure attachment
However, there is limited effectiveness in knowing even the best practices to create positive self- esteem and flourishing relationships when our Wounded Self is activated and running amok. During those times, access is physiologically blocked to our logical, pre-frontal cortex and our inner wisdom. None of the best practices we hope to employ in our lives are available to us when we are in the intention to control and protect and under the thumb of the Wounded Self. I know of that firsthand because before I began an Inner Bonding practice, I was steeped in self-abandonment and misappropriated the many beautiful marriage principles I was learning to control and judge my husband! The results were predictably dismal. However, just as it takes the right primer to prepare a surface so that the paint will adhere, an Inner Bonding practice addresses and heals the avoidant, protective and self-abandoning behaviors that contribute to the distress in family systems and individuals. Then the FLE teachings can stick. With an open door to a dependable Loving Adult presence, our access to the knowledge and skills that enhance our life are there right when we need them most.
