Track 2: Relationship and Parenting Skill Building
Fathers in Focus Conference 2025 » Track 2: Relationship and Parenting Skill Building
Relationship and Parenting Skill Building
This track is designed to help you strengthen your relationships with your children and partner. Sessions will cover topics such as building strong emotional bonds with your children, effective discipline strategies, and nurturing healthy relationships within your family. Whether you’re a new parent or looking to enhance your parenting skills, these sessions will provide practical tips and advice to support you on your parenting journey.
Breakout Speakers
The Emotional Load: Fathers, Feelings, and the Invisible Work of Showing Up
This session helps fathers build stronger emotional bonds with their children by exploring the invisible work of caregiving. Through reflection and discussion, we will develop tools for emotional presence, co-parenting, and challenging traditional fatherhood roles.
As a former stay-at-home father to three children, David Hilgendorf studied how masculinity and gender norms shape father roles in emotional and cognitive labor. His work explores how paternal sensitivity and gender-expansive parenting impact child development and family dynamics. He especially interested in creating interventions that help fathers engage more intentionally in the ‘invisible’ work of parenting, and in bridging research and practice to support more equitable caregiving arrangements.
Guiding Hearts: Helping Children Understand and Manage Strong Emotions
Access straightforward evidence-based techniques to teach children how to comprehend and handle strong emotions. Robert provides fathers with actionable techniques to nurture emotional intelligence in children to enhance their resilience and mental health. Prepare to assist your child’s emotional growth while confidently working through their emotions.
Robert Nix is a professor of human development and family studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. As part of his position he also works in the Division of Extension, helping to support high-quality parent and family education programs across the state.
Fatherhood in the Digital Age: Raising Healthy Kids in a World Filled with Screens
From toddlers swiping on iPads to teens scrolling on social media, fathers are raising children in a world where digital media can influence every stage of development. This session equips dads with practical tools and research-based insights to guide healthy media use from early childhood through adolescence. We will explore how technology influences child development, while offering strategies to set boundaries, model positive habits, and strengthen father-child bonds across all ages.
Dr. Roxy Etta is a Child Development and Parenting State Specialist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension, connecting research to real-world programs that support Wisconsin families and the professionals who serve them. She leads community-based education and continuing education initiatives focused on child development, parenting, family relationships, and the impact of digital media on children and families. Dr. Etta consults with schools, families, and community organizations, translating research into practical strategies to prevent problematic media use and promote positive mental health and healthy development. She has been featured on Good Morning America as an expert on parenting and children’s media use. Dr. Etta earned her PhD in Human Development and Family Studies from the University of Wisconsin in 2023 and has been recognized as a Millennium Scholar by the Society for Research on Child Development (2017) and an Edward A. Bouchet Honor Scholar by UW-Madison and Yale University (2019).
