North Dakota parents and caregivers are invited to join Lutheran Social Services North Dakota and its team of trained crisis counselors for “Parenting in a Pandemic,” a free, online group discussion about navigating the parenting challenges created by COVID.

The discussion will be held from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on Aug. 4 through the Zoom videoconferencing platform.The discussion will encompass parents’ commonly expressed issues and concerns – from managing stress, supporting children’s mental health and navigating decisions about returning to child care or school, to everything in between.

The virtual event will create a compassionate space for parents to connect with others who are having similar experiences and to share coping skills and advice.

Terri Burns, team lead of LSSND’s Project Renew initiative and a mother of two, will facilitate, along with:

– Katie Krueger, a licensed master social worker at Abound Counseling, who has extensive experience working with children and families, particularly children with behavioral or mental health concerns.

– Jennifer Boeckel, a Bismarck-based, licensed master social worker with a doctorate in social work, who is a mom of two and has focused on child and family mental-health throughout her career.

– Sarah Wicks, Abound’s Jamestown-based master social worker, who is a mother of three boys and has significant experience in maternal mental health, including perinatal and postpartum issues.

Burns describes the event as an open-ended discussion that will be led primarily by participants.

“Participants can expect connection with other parents in the same boat, an empathetic space to discuss their experiences -both good and bad -and discussion of coping skills for both children and parents.We don’t want it to come across as a seminar,” Burns said. “It’s more about holding space for people to talk about how they’re doing.”

Registration is required to limit the sizes of the group so people feel comfortable sharing, if they desire. Register by Aug. 2 through the Zoom link: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN–PrhOr4nRRz6tv-p-Ktkohg.

This online event is part of Project Renew, a partnership between LSSND and North Dakota’s Behavioral Health Division, which offers phone-in crisis support, education and referrals at no cost to anyone with COVID-related stress or concerns.