Focus on the Family with Jim Daly How to Nourish Mental Health in Your Family (Part 1 of 2)
Oct 14, 2025
Licensed counselor Debra Fileta shares her insights on nurturing mental health within families. She emphasizes that emotions are God-given signals and discusses replacing trauma-based beliefs with truth for healing. Fileta explains the core formula connecting thoughts, feelings, and behaviors while encouraging parents to model emotional skills for their children. She highlights the importance of recognizing emotional triggers and offers practical routines for deeper family connections, aiming for healing and wholeness.
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Crossed Wires And The Lemon Car
- Debra Fileta told a college car story about a “lemon” whose crossed wires caused alarms and wipers to run randomly.
- She used the story to illustrate how superficial fixes fail until you address underlying wiring problems in life.
Thoughts Shape Feelings Then Behavior
- Thoughts lead to feelings which then shape behaviors, so addressing thoughts shifts outcomes.
- Debra emphasizes noticing strong feelings first to trace back to underlying beliefs.
Model Emotions To Teach Children
- Model emotional health for your children because research shows children learn most from what they see.
- Practice emotional skills yourself before teaching them to your kids.
