SWAMPSCOTT — After a successful first round of programs, the Swampscott Health Department has contracted with Christine Doucet to offer another free Mindful Parenting & Stress Reduction Series to Swampscott residents.
Doucet — who has rooted her career in the mission to help families, parents, and young children — has gathered a combination of experience in areas such as being a midwife and nurse in France, her native country, to being a fellow of the UMass Fellowship in Early Relational Health. More recently, she has served as a family support specialist for the City of Cambridge.
This series is designed for Swampscott parents or caregivers who are parenting children from birth to 12 years old. Participants must be at least 18 years of age or older in order to attend the sessions.
The four-part Mindful Parenting & Stress Reduction Series will be held on Fridays from 9:45-11:30 a.m. on Nov. 14, Nov. 21, Dec. 5, and Dec. 12.
Doucet shared her thoughts about how the first series of sessions went and why it can play an important role in helping people navigate through certain aspects of parenthood.
“I think the series was very meaningful for parents. I had received very good feedback that it was helping them in their parenting, especially to help them understand their children more,” Doucet said. “It taught them how they can be more attentive to their children and to themselves as well.”
Doucet continued, saying that one of the most important elements was giving participants the tools to navigate life as a parent when it starts to get stressful.
She said she’s very happy to be able to offer the series to community members once more.
“I know it’s very important to have ways to deal with stress, but it’s also important to find joy in our lives and children, to spend time as a family… I also think it’s so important to be communicative with other parents, to learn from each other and learn they’re not alone,” she said.
She also said that she “thinks it’s very nice for the Town to offer this program for free to residents.”
The initiative is a part of the Health Department’s Public Health and Mental Health programs and initiatives, created through utilizing a portion of the Town’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to address the ongoing public health and mental health challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
