The Need

Never before has a daughter so needed her fathers’ acceptance,

attention, and affirmation.

At a surprisingly young age, girls begin to respond to society’s expectations.

They become vulnerable to the popular messages that focus primarily on their bodies, their

appearance and their independence.

Leading research has clearly identified the dilemmas associated with daughters who lack a father’s healing presence:

“The lack of constructive interaction with

a loving, attentive father results in apprehension and inadequate

skills in a daughter when she relates to males.”

Marshall Hamilton, Ph.D.

Women without fathers are more likely to have a child before the

age of eighteen, be promiscuous, and less likely to commit to

long-term relationships.

Journal of Marriage and Family

A University of Arizona study found that 90% of teen girls are

unhappy with their weight and daughters experience

“father hunger” when they are

not affirmed by their fathers.

Joan Borysenko, Ph.D.

The Challenge

� The research demonstrates that fathers influence their daughters in profound ways.

� Fathers often fail to realize the importance of their interactions and their role as a dad, especially as girls move into adolescence.

� Frequently fathers find themselves distancing themselves from their daughters as they navigate through the changing dynamics of adolescence. Communication becomes difficult and issues more complicated.

� Unfortunately, this occurs at a time when daughters most need their fathers to be an even greater positive presence in their lives.

Fathers Changing the World…

Fathers must make a radical commitment to express the value of their daughters to the world.

This bold step will rebuild the core of family life and much more.

It will require dads to acknowledge their need for new skills in fathering and compel them to take a huge step of faith that will ultimately lead them to maintain the relationship of openness, affirmation and acceptance their daughters so desperately need.

…One Daughter at a Time

To help fathers and daughters (ages 11 and older) strengthen, or in many cases initiate or rediscover, their uniquely beneficial relationship, the National Center for Fathering has developed a one-day event called the Father-Daughter Summit. The event is open to father-daughter pairs including stepfathers, uncles, and father figures.

Attendees participate in a highly interactive seven-session program. The Summit is designed to guide fathers and daughters through a series of exercises and learning experiences that teach basic principles about the relationships between dads and daughters while also helping each participant to search their own hearts for issues that must be addressed in order to successfully reach the relational summit.

The rubber meets the road during two one-on-one dialogues that allow fathers and daughters to open conversation on areas that strengthen and create barriers to their relationship.

What a Difference a Day Can Make!

35%

Prior to the event, daughters were surveyed and 35% were very satisfied to extremely satisfied with their relationship with their father.

83%

Six weeks after the event, 83% of these same daughterswere now very satisfied to extremely satisfied

with their relationship with their father!

Life-Changing Impact

We realized how we have hurt each other, failed, and limited ourresponses to worldly interaction. With what we have learned, wehave taken a new direction of openness, humility, and prayerful

consideration of how the Lord wants us to glorify Him in our roles as father and daughter. I have been able to reconcile some issues with my father and communicate what we learned to my wife, so the effect

is multiplying. For all this I am very grateful to you and the Lord.-- David, Austin, TX

I'm glad I came because I know that we will have a stronger relationship with my father and know how to work through our

problems; we will also be stronger individuals. There has been amazing healing!!! I pray for you all that you will reach more because

it will change the world!!!-- 20 year old daughter, Nashville, TN

National Contact: Lucy BloomDirector, Father-Daughter Summit

National Center for Fathering913.378.1038

summit@fathers.comwww.fathers.com/summit