How to be a good dad even when you're down

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Transcription:

If you’ve lost your job and have a hard time feeling like the man of the house, the most important thing to remember is that your kids don’t need a man of the house – they need a father in the house. For many men being the man of the house means being the provider or the breadwinner. And when we can’t be the breadwinner we want to be, we oftentimes feel like we fail. That’s when our self-worth is linked with our net worth. But the fact is being a provider for men is really kind of a relic from the past. Today, in the United States, the majority of households with kids are actually two income households. And the fact is fathers provide for their kids in many, many ways and net worth has very little to do with it. In fact, there is a lot of debate among social scientists as to whether family income has any bearing on the kids’ development. But there is absolutely no debate about the importance of father involvement on his kids. These kids do better in every way that we can measure it – behaviorally, cognitively, psychologically and socially. So if you’ve lost your job, but you’re just there with your kids, you’re providing for them in many, many ways.

Video Categories: ALL PARENTS, Parenting, Family Life

Will Courtenay, PhD Psychotherapist, shares advice for fathers on how they can be good dads for their kids even after feeling down about losing their job or other reasons

Transcript

Expert Bio

Will Courtenay, PhD

Psychotherapist

Dr. Will Courtenay, “The Men’s Doc,” is an internationally recognized expert in helping boys, men and fathers, and a psychotherapist, consultant, distinguished author, researcher, keynote speaker, radio host, and consultant to and speaker at schools and universities. His new book is titled Dying To Be Men. The American Psychological Association calls him, “a leading psychologist in the field of masculinity” and Who’s Who in America calls him a “foremost achiever in his field.” As one of the world’s leading innovators in the health of boys and men, he has a documented history of success in shaping and promoting this new field, as well as new perspectives on fatherhood, boyhood, and masculinity. Dr. Courtenay received his PhD from the University of California at Berkeley and has served on the clinical faculty in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and the University of California, San Francisco, Medical School. He is the Founding Editor of the International Journal of Men's Health. Dr. Courtenay is a powerful, effective voice about boys and men, heard nationally on radio and television – including CNN, Good Morning America, World News, Fox News, ABC News, NBC News – and seen in print – including NY Times, LA Times, Wall Street Journal, U.S. News & World Report, NPR, Newsweek, USA Today, and Chicago Tribune. Dr. Courtenay is a contributor to Esquire Magazine.