This week Dave Landers (pictured left), Ph. D. in educational counseling, brought a workshop to the men of Jaywalker on how their fathers influenced their view of what a man is and how we would like our future children to view us. Through recovery many of us have learned that sometimes our thinking can be wrong, and this was exactly what this workshop was about. Growing up, whether we liked it or not, we were directly influenced by our fathers. This was not a workshop to blame our fathers, or men for that matter, but more of a workshop to show us where a lot of our thinking came from. Like me, a lot of the men grew up thinking that a man should never show certain emotions, should have all the answers, and be able to fix anything. While this is sometimes what society shows us, that doesn’t always make it correct. Half the morning was spent going over where a lot of our actions came from, both good and bad, and how we can change it. The rest of the morning we discussed ways that we can help show our future children a healthy view of what a man should be.
This was a subject a lot of the men didn’t want to talk about, but was definitely an essential part of our recovery. While this brought up a lot of emotions that the men didn’t want to experience, it also brought up a lot of positive emotions; grateful for the love and support we receive from our families, and empathy for the understanding of the difficulties of being a father/man. Jaywalker would like to personally thank Dave for bringing this workshop to Jaywalker and thank all of our men for participating. This was a growing experience for us all.
Donnie Hagenbart
Program Coordinator
Jaywalker U
