Building the Complete Father Intervention

Abstract

Abstract Receiving a medical prognosis that is expected to shorten a father’s life to a finite period upends many aspects of family life, including fathering roles and responsibilities, child–parent interactions, and a father’s ability to maintain previous activities. It places tremendously complex pressures on a fragile system to adapt and evolve. Successful fathering relies on balancing a father’s feelings and thoughts in relationship with those of his child(ren). A serious or terminal illness compromises this balance. A process of rebalancing during this mortal time can become the foundation for creating new lasting moments to add to both a father’s life and their child(ren)’s. Using Building the Complete Father, a cognitive-behavioral legacy planning activity, social workers can facilitate fathers to consider who they are as fathers and what they may still wish to be; and what they do as fathers and what they may still desire to do with their children.