Empact Parenting of Teens and Young Adults - HTC University of Colorado
Virtual 10-week program
This program is being hosted by the Hemophilia and Thrombosis Center - University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.
This virtual program has been developed during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure that the program is still accessible to the families that are seeking out or needing these kinds of resources and guidance.
This parenting course will be delivered over 12 weeks. Prior to the start of this course, registered participants will be sent hard-copy materials to their homes. They will also have access to course content via this online educational platform and will be expected to participant in weekly scheduled Zoom classes. Participants should assume that this course will require up to 1.5 hours of effort each week.
Empact Parenting is a program uniquely designed for parents of teens and young adults with serious medical conditions or special needs. The program -
- Outlines the teen brain and mindset through puberty and how this impacts their decisions and the way that they behave
- Teaches parenting attitudes, knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors
- Facilitates discussions about teens and topics like sex, tattoos, alcohol, bullying and career planning
- Delivers tools to help with planning for the future
- Encourages parent personal awareness
- Improves family health, viability, engagement, and interaction
- Connects parents with other parents and reduces the feeling of isolation
Participants will receive a certificate to recognize their completion of the program.
This program is sponsored by Bayer Pharmaceuticals.
Your Instructors
Danna Merritt, LMSW - Danna is a licensed clinical social worker with over four decades of experience working with families that have children with serious medical conditions. She founded the Parents Empowering Parents (PEP) program, now known as Empact Parenting, over twenty years ago and launched the Energizing and Empowering Minds non-profit in 2016 to continue to ensure that parents have access to the support that they need. Danna retired from Children’s Hospital of Michigan and lives in Noblesville, IN. She is a mother of two daughters with six grandchildren. She enjoys spending her spare time with her family creating experiences and memories.
Emily Wheat - Emily is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and a Clinical Psychologist at the Hemophilia and Thrombosis Center (HTC). She specializes in providing mental health interventions and assessments to individuals with co-morbid mental health and medical concerns. Dr. Wheat especially enjoys providing support for caregivers of children with acute and/or chronic medical concerns and is excited to be co-facilitating the Empact Parenting Program at her HTC!
Ruben Aguirre - Ruben lives in El Lago TX with his wife and two children. His son has Severe Hemophilia A, and his daughter is a carrier for Hemophilia. He is a Special Education Teacher for grades K-5. Ruben has been involved with the Empact Parenting program for 19 years. As a parent with a child with Hemophilia, this program has given him numerous tools to help him raise productive individuals with both of his children. It has opened doors to a network of people that share a common “new normal” (a term used in Empact Parenting). Ruben has facilitated programs and trained trainers domestically and internationally in countries like Spain, Peru, Colombia, Panama, Malaysia.