Focus on the Family with Jim Daly How to Nourish Mental Health in Your Family (Part 2 of 2)
Oct 15, 2025
Debra Fileta, a licensed counselor and author, specializes in emotional and family health. She discusses the importance of emotional expression, urging parents to model healthy emotions for their children. The conversation explores rising anxiety among youth and how COVID revealed emotional wounds needing attention. Debra emphasizes normalizing emotional check-ins and using tools like conversation starters to help families navigate feelings. She also highlights affirming children's intrinsic worth and the role of faith in healing emotional health.
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Model Emotions Openly
- Debra Fileta models emotional expression as healthy and transparent, citing Jesus' vulnerable moments.
- She says showing emotions teaches children how to manage theirs by example.
Leverage Emotional Contagion
- Use emotional contagion intentionally because children mirror parents' emotional displays.
- Act with calm and clarity to influence your child's emotional response positively.
Child Wrote 'You Don't Love Me'
- John Fuller shared a story where his son wrote that discipline 'feels like you don't love me.'
- That note opened a deeper conversation and changed his disciplinary response.
