When Brad Franck joined fathering support group Better Fathers Inc., he was at the end of his rope.
In the midst of a difficult divorce, custody disagreements and communication problems with his ex-wife had peaked. She was withholding access to the children, and he was desperate to be more involved in their lives.
“I went there with clenched teeth and closed fists and a lot of anger,” Franck remembers of his first session with Better Fathers. “I was hitting a lot of dead ends.”
The group sessions, led by retired social worker Paul Molloy, include 20-30 dads who meet in the basement of a small church in Winnipeg’s west end. As Franck returned each week to learn about being a better dad, and shared challenges and fears with the other fathers, his anger began to dissipate.
“I looked so forward to every Thursday night, sitting with 25 other fathers that were going through some of exactly the same things as me,” he says.
Franck successfully completed the 12-week program. It helped him better understand himself, his ex-wife, and his children to the point that he went through the program again, and then twice more. The experience was life-changing, he says.
