Island Dads
This online group is open to all dads, and utilizes a peer-support model to share the collective wealth we can bring to each other throughout all stages of change and healing.
Island Dads Group
This online group is open to all dads, and utilizes a peer-support model to share the collective wealth we can bring to each other throughout all stages of change and healing. Island Dads creates opportunities for all participants to both listen and be heard, in a confidential and supportive environment. Acceptance, growth, and the power of connectedness with our families and each other, are cornerstones of this group.
Meetings
Island Dads is currently open for attendance, and can be accessed directly on Tuesdays at 6:00pm. Please feel free to connect with Andrew McKenzie, group facilitator, for more details, and to be provided with a direct Zoom link for the meeting.
What to Expect…
It can sometimes be a bit intimidating to join a group of people we haven’t met before, so below is a rough description of how Island Dads meetings are organized. This is meant to provide a general idea, so that dads (or dads-to-be) who are thinking of attending, can have some idea of what to expect.
- Welcome and small-talk until all attendees arrive
- Territorial Acknowledgement of the Pentlatch, E’iksan and K’ómoks First Nations
- Confidentiality and Supports are acknowledged
- A Dad can either choose to share with the group, or pass (just listen)
- One-at-a-time:
- Each dad shares their update (challenges, successes, anything else..) with the group
- Each dad shares“one good thing” connection with the group (eg. I played a board game with my two kids)
- Each dad picks “one small thing” to work on for next week (this can be anything from buying a new bike, to working on self-regulation… it’s totally up to the dad who is sharing)
- Each dad can update the group on how their small thing from last week went.
- Acceptance, Genuine-ness, Empathy, Vulnerability, and Laughter, are all an important part of every Island Dads meeting.
Meeting Facilitator
All meetings are facilitated by Andrew McKenzie, a Registered Clinical Counsellor, who is a member of Pathways to Healing Partnership (Comox Valley Child Development Association – CVCDA)
Meeting Times
| February 20 | 6:00pm |
| February 27 | NO MEETING |
| March 5 | 6:00pm |
| March 12 | 6:00pm |
| March 19 | 6:00pm |
| March 26 | 6:00pm *FINAL GROUP* |
Island Dads Group is part of Pathways to Healing Partnership (PTHP – Comox Valley Child Development Association), whereby funding is procured through the BC Ministry of Health. Island Dads is the “sibling” group to the Mothers for Recovery group, which is also part of PTHP. Together, these groups aim to address the vital need for relational connectedness and a broad web of support, in the lives of Vancouver Island parents.
Pathways to Healing Partnership, which began in 2016, is a specially-trained group of Clinical Counsellors who specialize in the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (NMT) and Brazelton Touchpoints, as lenses of practice through which to design supports for mothers and babies in the perinatal period, where substance use, early life trauma, and other mental health factors are present. Through the evolution of this work, it became clear that there is a critical need for specific supports which fathers can also access, which is where Island Dads grew into being.
Get in touch
You can get in touch using the methods below, or use the secure contact form. All communications are strictly confidential.