Our Blog
Get plugged into the latest Be Strong Families news, initiatives, and blog articles — all central to creating transformative conversations that nurture the spirit of family, promote well-being and prevent violence.
More Blogs
Why Are Cafés So Great? - How Cafés Promote Equity and Belonging
In a world where many struggle to find spaces where they can truly be themselves, cafés offer a unique refuge. They provide a platform where individuals can share their stories without fear of judgment—a core principle upheld by café agreements, which emphasize equality and the power of personal experience over hierarchy.
Why Are Cafés So Great? - Public Health Innovation and the Epidemic of Loneliness
In recent years, about one-in-two adults in America reported experiencing loneliness. And that was before the COVID-19 pandemic cut off so many of us from friends, loved ones, and support systems, exacerbating loneliness and isolation.
Why Are Cafés So Great? – Cafés and Healing Trauma
Trauma, especially trauma that is experienced in early childhood, can have a significant and lasting impact on an individual's emotional, cognitive, and social development. It can disrupt the natural progression of attachment, self-concept, and understanding of the world and interpersonal dynamics. As a result, this can set unhealthy patterns of relationships…
Why Are Cafés So Great? – Café as a Type of Therapeutic Mental Health Service
The main goal of mental health services is to help individuals achieve better mental and emotional well-being. If you bracket for a moment the assumption that all such services need to be provided by licensed professionals according to a medical model including diagnosis and treatment including medication (which are not necessarily super effective in many cases), Cafés do many of the things that therapeutic mental health services do — and for some people they even work better than conventional, evidence-based interventions. They can also be catalysts and gateways to accessing professional mental health services.