5 Things Dads can do to Raise Emotionally Healthy Children

Sometimes I have the opportunity to work with men on issues of fatherhood including the themes of communication, commitment, identity, intimacy and trust. The men I work with often have difficulties in their personal lives relating to the people they love most. They yearn for their children to be happy and successful, yet they often lack the skills and ability to model a way to help them accomplish this.

The problem is that many men continue to operate under the rules of ‘Male Code’ -a rigid set of social guidelines, both spoken and unspoken, that equates masculinity with stoicism, silence, and strength. These "rules of the road" have been in place in the for nearly 200 years. 

Whilst traditional male behaviors have ensured that men acquire positions of privilege, prestige and power, they can be detrimental to men's health and relationships, particularly in parenting their children. Poor attention to their physical health, and lack of emotional engagement in relationships with their friends and/or family may well have contributed to men's shortened life spans in previous generations. 

As men are now being called upon to spend more time and participate in the direct care of their kids, they often find themselves emotionally overwhelmed trying to balance work, relationship and family demands. The following guidelines can help men overcome the limitations of traditional male code and better navigate the complicated pathways of modern fatherhood.

1. Be Emotionally Available and Vulnerable

Fathers have traditionally defined their roles as providers and protectors. As a dad, it's good to get involved from the start in day-to-day parenting activities. That's how you get to know your kids from "the ground floor up." Interacting in close quarters, however, brings up surprisingly intense feelings, both positive and negative. 

Dads need support from their partners and friends to stay open and respond to the emotional demands of parenting. This allows children to feel that they are connected and can open up with their fathers.

2. Listen and Empathise

Men often feel that their role should be to provide advice and wisdom. This is great when they actually have this to provide, but good parenting often requires listening without having an answer. Empathy is a communication skill that involves imagining what others feel, and then validating our guess. It's a great trait to develop with your kids (and with others as well) and you can start even before your kids learn to speak. Too often fathers confuse listening with passivity, and fail to make strong connections with their kids.

3. Show Physical Affection

Society has presented fathers with confusing advice about showing physical affection, particularly with their sons, because of the mistaken notion that this encourages weakness of character. There's more evidence to the contrary, however. 

Psychologist and historian, Lloyd De Mause, points out that boys' problems with aggression and lack of impulse control is more connected to the lack of tender nurturance, physical touch and verbal cooing they receive as infants rather than testosterone levels (which is relatively equal in boys and girls during early childhood years). Consequently, boys don't learn to self-soothe or ‘down-regulate’ as well as girls do. Dads, it's okay to hug and kiss your boys and girls as much as you want, for as long as you want -- as long as they enjoy it.

4. Learn to Let Go of Control

If you've done your job well as a parent, eventually your kids will be able to leave home and live on their own. This doesn't happen all at once, and many kids, even after high school have periods of returning to live at home while they work on becoming independent. Because control is such an important aspect of Male Code, many fathers have trouble letting go, being able to trust their children, and struggle with the emotions of loss that accompany this transition.

You can have a continued mentoring role with your adult kids as they go through this period of separation, as a caring father who respectfully checks in and is interested in sharing his feelings and finding out about his children's lives. Believe it or not, your children really appreciate this kind of ‘post-graduate’ relationship. It opens the door for your having a mature friendship with them over time.

5. Finally, Honor Your Partner

Remember that fathering is generally done in partnership. Women have carried the load, physically and emotionally of parenting for generations, and often haven't received the respect they deserve for all of the hard work they've done. 

As you are developing your identity as a first-rate father, remember to honor your partner, female or male, in this process. In doing so, honor the role that feminism and gender equality continue to play in allowing you to become this kind of dad. Your children will absorb this and will appreciate this attitude of respect and carry it with them as they develop into healthy adults.