Although I may be biased, having three daughters of my own, there is something very special about a father/daughter relationship. Certainly my childhood provided some valuable examples of this, but each passing year with my own family has done nothing but solidify this perception.
Over the years I have read multiple articles and posts that discussed the nature of a dad’s influence on the growth and ultimate psychological health of a daughter. Even though my early understanding was often limited to whether or not a dad lived in the home, the value and extent of fatherly interaction plays an equally significant role.
With this in mind, I wanted to post an article that I found on the struggle facing fatherless children. Dr. Gabriella Kortsch, the author, titled the piece “Fatherless Women” and it focuses primarily on fatherless women and how this fact manifests itself in adulthood. Although I posted the full link to the article here, I wanted to insert a section that I found particularly meaningful.
Dad’s, you can be sure that the time spent now will form that woman you see in the years to come.
“• Seeing the Self Reflected -Optimally, a little girl needs to see herself reflected in the love she sees for herself in her father’s eyes.
• Belief in the Self-Clearly, self confidence and self esteem can be forged through one’s own endeavors during the life course, even if a father has not been present, but the path to success in such endeavors, and the reasons for which they are even attempted, tend to be quite different in the adult woman who was raised with a positive relationship to her father, as opposed to the one who was not.
