Parent Education
We know that parents play a powerful role in the mental health of their children. To that end, El Futuro offers several educational opportunities for parents to learn about promoting healthy behaviors and supporting their children through mental health challenges.
Lazos Fuertes
We offer monthly webinars for parents of teens and preteens. Topics include building connections, establishing routines, safe and healthy technology use, and supporting children with depression. Click here to find more details and register for an upcoming class.
El Faro (ADHD Program)
Five-week course where parents of children with ADHD find a supportive community and learn techniques to help their children manage emotions and improve school and family life. We also offer one-on-one coaching, peer mentoring, and wrap-around support for children with ADHD and their parents.
Click here to find more details and register for an upcoming class.
Las Señales Tempranas
Webinar for parents about how to recognize the early signs of substance abuse and support young people who are struggling with addiction. Click here to find more details and register for an upcoming class.
Juventud Feliz y Segura
Immersive activity where teens attempt various tasks while wearing fatal vision glasses that mimic the effects of alcohol and drugs. Teens will learn about the risks of substance use, and parents learn strategies for promoting healthy behaviors.
Click here to find more details and register for an upcoming class.
For information about current offerings, contact us here.
“Sometimes you get stuck in your own world and say, ‘it’s me and my daughter or me and my son who are suffering with this diagnosis,’ but there are a lot of moms that are also suffering the same way, and we can help each other to get better.”
“A veces uno se cierra en su mundo, y dices, soy yo y mi hija o mi hijo que está sufriendo este diagnóstico, pero hay muchísimas mamás que también están sufriendo lo mismo, y entre todos podemos ayudarnos para mejorar.”
“The presentation by the two therapists was very good. The most interesting part of all was the four steps they gave us to achieve effective communication with our teenagers.”
“La presentación de los dos terapistas estuvo muy buena. La parte más interesante de todo son los cuatro pasos que nos dieron para lograr una comunicación efectiva con los adolescentes.”
“What I learned in this class is to be a bit more tolerant with our children.”
“Yo lo que aprendí en esta clase es ser un poco más tolerante con nuestros hijos.”
“What I learned today is that we can ask our children in a curious, non-judgmental way if they are having thoughts of attempting to take their life.”
“Lo que aprendí hoy es que podemos preguntar a nuestros hijos de una manera curiosa sin juzgar si ellos tienen pensamientos de intento contra su vida.”
“Now I learned that we are not alone, and there are people to ask for help, and that there are people who are struggling the same as me.”
“Eso aprendí ahora pues de que no estamos solos, y que hay personas a quién pedirle ayuda y que hay personas que están luchando igual que yo.”
Alvely Alcántara, LCSW
Rossy C. Garcia, MEd 
Katy Sims, MD 
Everardo Aviles, LCSW, LCAS (Eve)
As a medical anthropologist and social work researcher, Dr. Gulbas’ research embodies interdisciplinarity through the integration of applied theories of health and human development with qualitative and ethnographic methodologies. Her work seeks to understand how people—children, families, and providers—navigate complex sociocultural landscapes in the pursuit of mental health. Most of her work, to date, focuses attention on developing more robust interpretations of suicide risk. With funding from the National Institutes of Mental Health, this body of research has contributed to advancements in theoretical and empirical knowledge of the broader contexts within which youth suicide risk is situated. 
R. Gabriela Barajas-Gonzalez is a developmental psychologist and an assistant professor of Population Health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Dr. Barajas-Gonzalez is the principal investigator of a study that examines the impact of immigration-related threat and stress on school communities. She earned a PhD in developmental psychology from Columbia University and hold a BA in human biology from Stanford University. Dr. Barajas-Gonzalez is the daughter of Mexican immigrants and a first gen college student.
Dr. Parra-Cardona is an Associate Professor in the Steve Hicks School of Social Work (SHSSW) at the University of Texas at Austin. At the SHSSW, he serves as Coordinator for Mexico and Latin American initiatives. He also serves as Area Director for Research at the UT Austin Latino Research Institute. Dr. Parra-Cardona’s program of research is focused on the cultural adaptation of evidence-based parenting interventions for low-income Latinx populations in the US and Latin America.
Bianka Reese, PhD, MSPH is a research scientist and program evaluator specializing in adolescent and young adult sexual and reproductive health. Her previous research in the experiences of Latinx LGBTQ+ youth stems from her work as the Research and Evaluation Manager at SHIFT NC (Sexual Initiatives For Teens), where she led largescale evaluations of multilevel, community-based sexual health promotion initiatives and research projects aimed at elevating the voices of diverse youth in North Carolina. Dr. Reese is currently the Senior Research Strategist at Creative Research Solutions, LLC, an award-winning national evaluation, research, and assessment firm.
Tania Connaughton-Espino, MPH is an independent researcher focused on adolescent and young adult sexual and reproductive health. Her interest in the experiences of Latinx LGBTQ+ youth stems from her previous work with SHIFT NC (Sexual Initiatives For Teens), where she led the training and evaluation department, conducted capacity-building workshops for youth serving professionals including on the topic of how to be more affirming of LGBTQ youth, and from her extensive experience working with the Latinx population in NC.
Maru Gonzalez, EdD is an Assistant Professor and Youth Development Specialist in the Department of Agricultural and Human Sciences at North Carolina State University. Her areas of inquiry include youth development with a focus on activism, social justice, and the experiences of LGBTQ+ young people across familial, school, and community contexts. 
Nayeli Y. Chavez-Dueñas, PhD
Hector Y. Adames, PsyD