The COVID pandemic brought struggles and a sense of helplessness to many individuals and families, including the Blackburn family. Terrance, a single father of three, felt alone and struggled to provide the support and encouragement that his children needed. His children each faced their own challenges – inability to connect with people, coping with the trials of daily life and controlling their emotions.
Terrance needed help and a way to support his children for their well-being and for the family as a whole. Fortunately, Terrance was connected with Children’s Home Society of Florida where the kids began to work with Ms. Anna who provided them both family and individual counseling. Terrance shares, “After we were referred to CHS, Ms. Anna became the therapist of my two sons and she has been heaven sent. My kids love sitting together with her over Zoom. I raise the kids by myself, so it is like having a mother figure around for them. It has been a blessing!”
Ms. Anna meets bi-weekly with the Blackburn family, both as a group and one-on-one with each of his children. Terrance has seen incredible improvement from everyone. His youngest, Terrance III struggles with relating to others but the connection with Ms. Anna was instant and grows each time they meet. In addition, his oldest Terrance Jr., can get antsy, yet immediately after he meets with her, he feels calm and back on track for the day and week ahead.
“We love Miss Anna,” exclaims Terrance, a single father of three. “She is the best counselor we have had, and without her, our family would be struggling. She is very much a part of our family! It’s amazing all that she does to turn something that may be negative into a positive.”
Since beginning counseling with Ms. Anna, things have become significantly easier at the Blackburn home. He shares, “The kids are learning to cope with the problems they may have, challenges with reality, and the situations we may be in as a family. They are coping with things better, and now know they have someone to talk to. The counseling has carried us a long way.”
Terrance encourages others to reach out when they need help. “If you have children and they have problems, this is the type of therapy that I recommend. A lot of people may not know that their children are suffering whether it is due to COVID or things happening over the course of life,” he shares. “We as parents can’t do it by ourselves, we have to seek some type of help. This was the first time I did that and I am grateful that I did.”
