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By Karen Shirer

Summary

  • Deployment may be a difficult process for military families, depending on their circumstances.
  • Understanding a military family’s circumstances will help those who work with military families better support them. 
  • The OneOp webinar, Navigating Deployment: Strategies to Help Military Families, provides evidence-based strategies for helping families navigate the deployment cycle.

How do military families manage deployments and family separation? The short answer is that it’s a process – or, perhaps more aptly, a cycle.

OneOp Family Transitions is hosting, Navigating Deployment: Strategies to Help Military Families on Wednesday, September 28, 2022, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. ET. The webinar:

  • Examines the deployment cycle and associated challenges from the perspective of different family members. 
  • Explores the circumstances and family contexts, beyond separation, that contribute to the stress of deployment. 
  • Shares evidence-based tips and strategies for serving and empowering military families throughout the deployment cycle. 

Registration for this event is required. Visit the event page to register!

 Webinar participants will be able to:

  • Describe the stages of deployment from the perspectives of different family members.
  • Articulate common stressors encountered during the deployment cycle for military families.
  • Identify families who may have more difficulty managing deployment-related stress and/or be at greater risk of disruption due to deployment.
  • Explore research-based tips and strategies for helping military families prepare for and manage daily hassles and stressors associated with deployment.
  • Locate additional resources that may aid in your efforts to support military families during deployment.

This webinar is based, in part, on a recent report, A Review of Evidence-Based Strategies to Help Military Families Navigate Deployment by Military REACH. The report focuses on evidence-based strategies to help military families navigate deployment. 

About the Webinar Presenters

Dr. Catherine O’Neal is an Assistant Professor of Human Development and Family Science at the University of Georgia. Her research focuses on the interplay of risk and resilience, particularly for military families, to inform evidence-based outreach efforts.

Dr. Catherine O'Neal and Dr. Mallory Lucifer-Greer

Dr. Catherine O’Neal (on left) and Dr. Mallory Lucifer-Greer (on right).

Dr. Mallory Lucier-Greer is an Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Science at Auburn University. She is an applied researcher focused on the well-being of families, particularly military families, with a clinical background as a marriage and family therapist.

Dr. Greer and Dr. O’Neal work together collaboratively across several military-family-focused research projects that have been supported by the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Department of the Air Force, and the U.S. Army.

With their Military REACH team, Dr. O’Neal and Dr. Lucifer-Greer recently completed the report, Navigating Deployment: Strategies to Help Military Families

Receive Continuing Education (CE) Credits

You can receive CEs from the following organizations for participating:

  • 1.0 CE from the University of Texas at Austin, Steve Hicks School of Social Work (Social Work, LPC, LMFT).
  • 1.0 CE from the Commission for Case Manager Certification
  • 1.0 CE from the National Council on Family Relations to Certified Family Life Educators (CFLE).
  • Certificate of attendance from OneOp

Call to Action

Karen Shirer Karen Shirer, previous Associate Dean of the University of Minnesota Extension Center for Family Development. Karen is also the parent of two adult daughters, a grandmother, a spouse, and a cancer survivor.

 

 

Photo source: Adobe Stock