Peace at Home Blog

Children’s Mental Health Problems are Family ProblemsThat Impact the Workplace

May 2026 | Ruth Freeman, Kathleen Harkins Weissenberger

Post-pandemic family life has been dramatically impacted by the perfect storm of working parent burnout in combination with our national pediatric mental health crisis. Children and teens are suffering from anxiety, depression, and suicide at alarming rates. Working parents are craving support and information to gain the confidence and clarity they need to help their kids.

Mental Health concerns top the list of worries for parents and this concern is having a significant impact in the workplace (The Great Collide). More than half of parents have their work disrupted by their children’s mental health concerns and 71% of those parents say their job is much harder to handle due to those concerns. 

Unfortunately, parents are often unsure what to do to protect their children’s mental health and are underutilized during the treatment process. Parents may also be unclear about their role in their child’s treatment.  Parents may need support in coping with their own emotional responses to their child’s mental health issues and may not recognize or deal with their own behavioral health problems. The best way to help children and teens’ mental health is to (1) ensure that their home environment supports their well-being and (2) give their parents guidance, tools, and strategies to create that positive home environment and navigate these uncharted waters.  

The parent-child relationship is the most powerful mental health intervention known to humankind.  – Bessel van der Kolk  

The good news is that there are evidence-based solutions and support for parents, and parents are looking for that help. Let’s complete the missing link in pediatric mental health treatment by teaching parents how to“Parent for Mental Wellbeing.” Peace At Home Parenting Solutions has created this interactive psychoeducational program for parents and caregivers, giving them the support to protect and navigate their child’s mental health journey.This comprehensive initiative is designed to empower parents with the knowledge and skills they need to better understand, communicate with and support their children dealing with mental health concerns, from protective everyday parent-child interactions to coping with self-harm and suicidal thoughts. 

The Peace At Home “Parenting for Mental Wellbeing” program will help parents identify and apply practical strategies to create a nurturing relationship and “secure base” that protects children and teens’ mental health and helps kids cope when symptoms arise. 

Participants in the Parent for Mental Wellbeing Program will be able to:

• Distinguish between children “giving us a hard time” and “having a hard time.” 
• Identify yellow and red flags related to children’s mental health issues. 
• Recognize ways parents try to help that actually reinforce children’s symptoms. 
• Apply self-regulation and co-regulation approaches that reduce stress and conflict. 
• Apply connection and communication strategies that help children build confidence, optimism, and resilience. 
• Recognize the ways parents’ own childhoods may affect their thoughts and behaviors. 
• Recognize the power of modeling good health habits, self-care and self-talk.

Parenting education and support is a critical piece to improving mental health outcomes for children and families, while helping parents thrive at home and work.  Peace At Home customizes the Parent for Mental Wellbeing program to meet your teams’ needs and includes the right combination of live interactive workshops,  small group consulting sessions, on-demand Resource Guides with quick strategy-filled libraries, and 1:1 consulting support by advanced degree specialists. We coordinate with Employee Resource Groups, behavioral health teams, EAPs, and others so they can refer parents to resources as concerns arise. Our resources also include evidence-based child development and parenting solutions from prenatal to young adulthood.

An amazing 98% of Parent for Mental Wellbeing workshop participants report that they feel more confident about their parenting skills and 88% agree that our workshops provide solutions that will help them focus at work. 

Here’s what participants have to say:

• Are my actions creating CALM or Stress? – I will ask myself this with every interaction!
• Well-organized presentation, offered a lot of recommendations that I could see myself using.
• Loved the list at the end of some quick, simple changes that can be made that are impactful.
• A wealth of useful information was shared. Lots for me to draw upon to help myself and my children to cope with the challenges of life, no matter what age. I will attend more sessions.
• This was an amazing session. Jam-packed with information…But I’m glad to know there are resources where we can sign up to take in some of this in bite size pieces.

Give working parents tools and support to gain confidence and clarity at home so they can focus at work while their families thrive

Bring Peace At Home to your employees now. Let’s Talk 

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