Restoring the hearts of the Father’s
Fatherless Women: What Happens to the Adult Woman who was Raised Without her Father?
By Gabriella Kortsch, Ph.D.
Little girls who live without a father do so not only due to death, abandonment, or divorce, but also due to physically present fathers but who are emotionally absent, or ill over a lengthy period of time in some way (clinical depression, terminal disease, etc.), or because the father is a workaholic, or because in some fashion the father is a disappointment to the daughter, as might be the case in a weak or ineffectual father. Such differing types of absence in the girl's life may have major consequences of varying kinds, since a healthy emotional and socio-psychological developmental trajectory in the early years of life does require some type of positive paternal role model.
Daughters without Dads Inc, provides education and counseling on alternatives to resolve the absence of the natural father or the presence of an ineffectual father. Daughters without Dads,Inc. offer services to girls and women whose fathers are deceased or imprisoned by provided positive, Safetynet FBI Background screened male mentors, however, in the case that the Natural Father is living and open to having a relationship with his daughter Daughters without Dads, Inc, wants to cultivate “Restoration and Strengthening of the Father Daughter Relationships. Although a surrogate is a good option, depending on the damage already done in the following areas of;
• Seeing the Self Reflected -Optimally, a little girl needs to see herself reflected in the love she sees for herself in her father's eyes.
• Belief in the Self-Clearly, self confidence and self esteem can be forged through one's own endeavors during the life course, even if a father has not been present, but the path to success in such endeavors, and the reasons for which they are even attempted, tend to be quite different in the adult woman who was raised with a positive relationship to her father, as opposed to the one who was not.
• The Multi-faceted Arena of Relationships- Perhaps the arena in which the most painful process of learning how to deal with the early lack of a father is played out is in that of relationships. If a girl has not been assured of her value as a woman by that early relationship with the father, she finds it difficult to relate to men precisely because she may often unconsciously seek to find that recognition in the eyes of the beloved…and this may lead her down an early path of promiscuity...
• Avoiding Engaging the Emotions- Another possible scenario is that of avoiding relationships totally.
• Marrying 'Daddy- Other women may choose another route, falling in love with an older man and thus marrying 'daddy.' At this point many different scenarios may ensue. If the man is at all psychologically aware (something often, but not always lacking in older men who like younger girls), he may have a vague inkling of what is going on. Therefore, once she starts - within the secure confines of the relationship or marriage - the process of growth, which will inevitably lead her to separate from her husband in some ways that are emotionally and psychologically necessary in order for her become her own woman, he will not blanch in fear at this process, and allow her the necessary space and freedom to do so.
• Finding Self-Confidence and Recognition in the Self- The core of the matter is, of course, that the self-confidence and recognition so avidly sought must be found within oneself rather than in the outer world.
Qualitative measurements, interviews and assessments will be made by the CEO in regards to whether or not the father and/or daughter can participate in the following DwD pathways;
Phase II of DwD mentoring
* Dance with my Father Activities
* Daughters on Dates outings with male mentors
* Partnering Men’s Fellowships and Brother Organizations that share the mission and purpose of DwD.