Family rituals provide a sense of belonging

The purpose of family rituals and traditions is to provide a sense of belonging to the family.

"Family rituals create connections between family members past and present, foster identity through individual participation and establish security through repetition," says child therapist Art Cleveland.

Stephen Glynn, the founder of Developing Capable Young People, has written,

"Families that devote any regular time at all as little as 30 minutes a week with small children or 30 minutes a month with older children to some regularly structured ritual, tradition or activity, have children who experience much less serious difficulty than identical families in the same neighborhoods that spend no time together."

"Research from many sources has shown that children who perceive themselves as important, contributing parts of a functioning set of ongoing relationships before the age of 12 are more resistant to peer groups, cults and extraneous programming during their teenage years than children who perceive themselves as insignificant to others."

The benefits of family traditions and rituals

Regular and consistent family traditions/rituals can provide both adults and children with the following:

• A sense of belonging

• Identity and identification

• Role models

• A sense of purpose

• Connections

• Stability and continuity in a fast-paced and hectic world.

Not a bad return on investment, now is it?

Jeff Herring

Jeff is a marriage and family therapist, singles and relationship coach, mentor coach, speaker, syndicated relationship columnist and author.

Jeff has a full time private practice in Tallahassee in which he specializes in couples, teen and parent counseling. He also is a relationship coach specializing in working with couples and singles. Some of his professional activities include:

==> Internationally syndicated relationship columnist through Knight-Ridder/Tribune Media Services, with a weekly readership of over 10 million worldwide

==> Sought after speaker for organizations, associations, churches, and corporations

==>Twice weekly appearances on The Steve and Sara Show on Magic 107.1

==> Author of "Keep the Changes: 52 Tools for Successful Living" a collection of his best columns, as well as several e-books including "How to Create a Passionate and Loving Relationship.........Forever," "How to Beat the BOZOs: Dealing with difficult people without becoming one," and "Tame Your Teen: THE survival guide for parenting your teenager.

==> Founder and CEO of TheArticleGuy.com

==> Founder and CEO of SecretsofGreatRelationships.com

==> Founder and CEO of ParentingYourTeeanger.com

==> Founder and CEO of ToolsforSuccessfulLiving.com

==> President of BuildingYourIdealPractice.com

==> President of ConsciousDatingTallahassee.com