Equipping families to conquer the front lines of stress.

The FRST Mission and Our Commitment to Families

Family Resilience and Support Training (FRST) is designed to enhance family cohesion and strengthen parent-child, marital, and co-parenting relationships. It works by helping families develop a shared understanding of past experiences, while building skills in emotional regulation, communication, problem-solving, and goal-setting. Through this program, participants learn how to work together to overcome challenges and strengthen their support systems. We also strive to foster a sense of community among enrolled families and others in similar occupations, such as military veterans, firefighters, and law enforcement officers, by creating opportunities for them to connect and build close ties.

FRST is an evidence-based, family-centered intervention that helps families facing trauma and adversity to build resilience and improve stress-coping skills. Implemented nationally with military families, we have adapted the program for populations of first responders, as well as adult populations in high-stress occupations. It’s designed to improve the knowledge and skills of parents and children, as well as their family relationships, with the expectation that improvements in each domain will have positive ripple effects throughout the family.

This is one of the first skill-based preventive interventions that’s designed to be trauma-informed and culturally responsive. It’s created for single and dual-parent families who face challenges during occupational stress and trauma exposure. FRST is scalable, portable, and flexible, allowing it to be adapted freely to cater to the different needs of individual families and their communities. Our goal is to provide families with the tools and skills they need to build resilience and navigate difficult situations with confidence and support.

Mental health is not a destination, but a process. It’s about how you drive, not where you’re going.

Noam Shpancer

Based on leading family intervention models, FRST focuses on identifying and building on individual and family strengths. Education sessions teach families new strategies to enhance communication and problem-solving skills, goal-setting, and to create a shared family story that endures and supports the family’s unique and ongoing stress management. Through this program, families can develop the skills and strategies they need to work through challenges and build a stronger, more resilient family.

Finally, we encourage participants to voluntarily engage with their occupational community, with a focus on shared experiences and support. By connecting with other military, first responders, or health-challenged individuals or families, participants can normalize their reactions to stress and trauma and gain inspiration to invest more in the program. Our facilitators serve as an information and referral center, helping participants access needed community resources and engaging in educational, recreational, and other social opportunities. We sustain ongoing communications with key civic, health, and social service leaders in all the communities we serve. These leaders refer families, provide helpful annual formal feedback to sustain program quality, and often offer direct or indirect assistance to strengthen and sustain the program locally.