STRONGSTART™ FOR NEW DADS

Ready from Day One

Build a strong foundation during the critical first three years and secure a lifetime of mental wealth for your child.

Prepare for the mental game of fatherhood

The most important learning in your baby’s life comes before the age of three – when fundamental thinking, feeling, and people skills are developed. Dads, as primary engagers, play a critical and distinct role in building this foundation.

Drawing on experts from across psychology, pediatrics, and respect-based parenting, our groundbreaking StrongStart™ Programs are designed to help you understand your child’s mental development, fortify your relationship, and lay a strong foundation for your family’s future.

StrongStart™ Practice

StrongStart™ Dads have spoken:

95%

consider StrongStart™ “very helpful” and “very worthwhile.”

80%

report StrongStart™ has positively impacted their relationship

88%

apply skills they’ve learned in StrongStart™ at home

Data-backed, Dad approved

"The take home exercises facilitated conversations that got us on the same page. It helped me think about what kind of dad I wanted to be."

Tom H.
“Every man should take this course before he becomes a father.”

Ona L.
Out of everything I read, the stuff I learned from StrongStart has been the most transformative.

Josh F.
We had a truly amazing group of guys. Some of us still hang out to this day.

Carson C.
"Your relationship is the environment" became a mantra for us."

Kenneth P.

Our Mission

We provide research-backed education, support and advocacy to help new dads navigate fatherhood and set their children up for lifelong mental wellness and success.

“Study after study shows vast benefits to perinatal fatherhood education on dads, moms and babies— and yet there continues to be a lack of resources designed for dads. Early Engagement was founded to change that.”

—Ben Swett, Founder & Executive Director of Early Engagement

Learn More

Connecting Research and Practice

Through collaboration with science and medical community partners, we advance research into paternal perinatal mental health and father-focused interventions. All of our programs are backed by research into the impact of men’s perinatal preparation on their mental health, their relationship, and their child’s longterm well-being.

White Paper: Father Focused Prenatal Education Leads to Better Outcomes for Babies and Mothers

Examines the profound importance of antenatal paternal education, highlighting its substantial benefits for fathers, mothers, and children alike.

Read White Paper

“I Wanted to Be There as a Father, but I Couldn’t”: A Qualitative Study of Fathers’ Experiences of Postpartum Depression and Their Help-Seeking Behavior

While there has long (rightly!) been a focus on Postpartum Depression, Paternal Perinatal Depression (PPND), which is experienced by 5 - 25% of all new fathers, remains far less researched, discussed, or understood.

Read Study

Additional Research

Our Leadership

We are scientists, researchers, policymakers, and parents who believe that more informed and engaged fathers leads to stronger families and healthier children.

We are dedicated to providing data-backed education and support programs promoting the critical role dads play in longterm mental wellness and pushing crucial new research forward.

Our Team