Support groups for children from broken homes

Children from broken homes can benefit greatly from talking to other children in the same situation.

So say Ejler Eysturtún and Barbara Jacobsen, of Familjufyrisitingin (the Family Administration), who head a new initiative to offer talk groups for children and youths whose parents do not live together.

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They say that regardless of whether the parents who do not live together have many disagreements or whether they work well together, their children may well have questions and feelings which they do not talk about in their daily lives.

Talk groups allow the children to put these thoughts and feelings into words. The children are grouped according to age, with six to eight children in each group. The groups meet six times in total, fortnightly for 90 minutes.

Stimulating environment

Each group is led by two adults, who introduce various relevant topics and help the children to find ways of expressing their thoughts and feelings.

The children do the talking, while the group leaders create a framework around the talks, for instance by using games or exercises to encourage the children to communicate with each other.

Free of charge

All children and teenagers whose parents do not live together are welcome to sign up for the talk groups, which are free of charge.

It is not a precondition that the parents have had previous contact with the Family Administration. It is also not important whether the parents have been separated over a long or short period.

To register for the talk groups, email famf@famf.fo

Translated by prosa.fo