UVU presents a new single parent parenting group

College is a challenging time in life. Students deal with the stress of attending classes, doing homework, maintaining a job and keeping up with a social life. However, these daily challenges can seem minimal for some students because they also have the stress of raising children alone. To help, the UVU Health Service Center is forming a group for single parents.

“It’s a group designed to take the guess work out of parenting alone,” said Emma Mansour, psychology intern.

The idea for this group came directly from the student body. Psychology interns Emma Mansour and Carolyn Ferreira put together a booth in the PE building and asked students what type of peer group they would like to see on campus. Mansour and Ferreira found a majority in favor of a single-parent parenting group.

The parenting group is planned for every Thursday from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in SC 222. The sessions will begin March 21 and are free of charge.

The first meeting will be designed to ask attendees what they hope to achieve in the sessions. After that, Mansour and Ferreira will be teaching concepts such as self-care, time management, parenting styles, disciplining children, how to ask for help, balancing life demands and dating issues.

“We hope that these meetings will help single parents build meaningful friendships with other single parents,” Mansour said.

The groups will remain small, no more than 15 members, and will be comprised of single parents from all stages of life. It is designed to be a place where single parents can go to share parenting tips and find support for the frustrations of everyday life.

“This group is meant to give hope to single parents,” Mansour said. “They can teach each other through their experiences and have the therapists there to moderate and give insight.”