As recently as September 2021, Facebook released some recent marketing campaigns targeted towards parents and young adults being vulnerable in Facebook Groups.  This strategy is good in theory, but worrisome in practice.  Most Facebook groups don’t have active moderators and cannot manage to safely protect members from being attacked.  When you are a parent concerned about the wellbeing of your college student, there is no more dangerous place to seek empathy, validation, and support than a Facebook group.  This is why Shayna Abraham, of Prepare To Bloom Treatment Consulting, Joanna Lilley, of Lilley Consulting, and Adrienne Frumberg of Lighthouse Guidance joined forces to create the College Parent Survival Network.

The College Parent Survival Network is a survival network for parents of college-bound, current, and former college students. This is a private community of parents seeking advice under the guise of discretion, and looking for answers to better help their young adults navigate college-related and transition hurdles.  Most pressing of all is how participants navigate supporting the mental health of these young people, and support the parents in knowing when to step in and when to step back.  This community was launched on September 15, 2021 and is growing slowly to ensure the safety of its members.

As a global communications platform, users can go to a Facebook group to ask questions about what shuttle is best to get to the airport, what local bakery can whip up the best cake, and to sell their extra tickets to the upcoming football games.  Those types of requests are seeking an objective response.  When a parent asks about their child’s professor, navigating a hospitalization, or frustration around the lack of availability of an academic advisor, there is no structured protection from being judged, attacked, shamed, or given misguided advice.  The College Parent Survival Network is making certain that any concern a parent raises is presented to a safe audience. 

Adrienne shared “parents often have as much anxiety or more about their children’s college experience as their kids do, from admission to graduation. And the dearth of community and resources only exacerbates the helplessness many parents feel. The College Parent Survival Network (CPSN) was created with just this challenge in mind, supporting parents at every stage of the college process and beyond.

About College Parent Survival Network: 

College Parent Survival Network is the safest online community for parents seeking support, direction, and guidance around helping their child launch into adulthood, whether that includes college or not.  Offering parents a platform to ask questions, normalize they aren’t alone, and learn from experts around college and early adulthood.  For more information, please check out the community. 

College Parent Survival Network is owned and operated by two Therapeutic Consultants and one College Consultant.  This collaboration was formed in an effort to help parents early, and potentially save the young adult from pain in the future.