Mom Power, by Rachel "Meg" Clingensmith

The Strong BRAIN Institute (SBI) is delighted to share about one of the programs overseen by our Associate Director of Training Implementation and Dissemination, Dr. Diana Morelen. The program, Mom Power, helps promote resilience for families in the Appalachian Highlands though taking a community-based, 2gen approach to parenting. Mom Power is a parenting intervention grounded in attachment theory and trauma informed care and was originally developed by researchers and clinicians at the University of Michigan. Mom Power is evidence-based and a part of the Strong Roots curriculum through Zero to Thrive. The intervention was designed to reach, engage, and support mothers with high psychosocial stressors. Unlike many parenting groups that focuses on “what to do,” Mom Power balances the “what to do” with a more process-based emphasis of “how you are.” Meaning, the intervention takes more of a “teach a ‘mother’ to fish” approach. Throughout group, mothers learn ways to decrease their own stress, attune to their child’s needs, and strengthen attachment relationships. The Mom Power model also works to reduce barriers to care for families by providing assistance with transportation, child-care, warm handoffs to other community based supports, and other incentives to encourage family engagement.

Mom Power was brought to our corner of Tennessee by Dr. Diana Morelen who is an assistant professor at East Tennessee State University and Primary Investigator of the Mom Power Effectiveness study which aims to determine if Mom Power can support the needs of families in Southern Appalachia. Dr. Morelen’s Affect, Regulation, Coping, and Health (ARCH) research lab is recognized under the umbrella of the SBI due to lab’s emphasis on research which can be applied to support resilience in family systems. Mom Power, and the research around it, has been supported by funding from the ETSU RDC Major grant and Ballad Health’s Population Community Partner funding, Further, Mom Power would not be possible without the community partner and host agency, Families Free. Currently, Mom Power is in its 10th group cycle with groups taking place across Johnson City, Kingsport, Elizabethton, and Bristol.

Though southern Appalachia is an area with a rich culture and strong values rooted in community, it is also a region whose population is disproportionately affected by health risks such as poverty, low educational status, intergenerational trauma, and substance use. And, indeed, the majority of the families who we have worked with since beginning the Mom Power intervention have endorsed multiple such risk factors. The Mom Power model works to support mothers who need it the most as to scaffold their ability act as a stable, regulated caregiver even when life stressors persist. We know that the first five years of a child’s life are among the most critical for development and that early parental relationships are the context in which we build this foundation. Similarly, Mom Power works to provide the context that enables mothers to heal and provide a differential parenting experience to their young children. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto others.” – Jeree Pawl.
 

To find out more: https://www.familiesfree.com/mom-power-a-therapeutic-intervention-for-mothers-of-young-children/