July 12, 2019/by FamilyKind
This month, we share a blog post, about an exiting new FamilyKind initiative for children, presented by FamilyKind’s very own Director of Program Development, Ellen Taner.
FamilyKind is delighted to have launched its new program, GoodTalk4Children (GT4) in two sites. The Brooklyn class was held in the private office of a mental health provider and the Staten Island class was held in a public elementary school. The authors of the curriculum, Ellen Taner and Caryn Loffman, could not be happier with the feedback they received from both sites’ group leaders.
The Brooklyn class was held in the private office of a mental health provider and the Staten Island class was held in a public elementary school. The authors of the curriculum, Ellen Taner and Caryn Loffman, could not be happier with the feedback they received from both sites’ group leaders.
The program’s pilot, expertly facilitated by FamilyKind team members Tamara Hirsch and Amy Carron Day, proved to need a few tweaks but overall, the program is in excellent shape to be replicated to any who are interested in providing this much needed resource for children. The evaluations and verbal feed-back showed that all the children benefited in their own way. While the students came from different backgrounds and ranged in age from 7-11, they all shared something very important: each participant was the child of divorce or separation. This GT4 group was the one place where they could talk openly about their experiences, their fears, and their challenges while engaged in fun and meaningful activities that dis-pelled myths (You didn’t cause your parent’s divorce and You can’t bring them back together), taught skills to communicate with their parents (Active Listening and I-messages) and stress-relieving strategies (Breathing Techniques and Journaling).
Parents who gave their children permission to attend this 6-week program were sent letters describing what the children learned and suggestions on ways to reinforce their new knowledge. They were also en-couraged to utilize other services and FamilyKind resources to support their family during and post fami-ly transition.
September seems way off in the future as we settle into a summer pace, however, FamilyKind is looking forward to beginning the next cycles in the fall in Brooklyn and Staten Island and we are eager to expand to additional locations as well. Anyone interested in learning more about bringing this rewarding program to their school or community or in referring their child to a program, please reach out to Ellen Taner, the Director of Program Development at FamilyKind at etaner@familykind.org subject: GT4. FamilyKind is eager to help bring this program to an area near you.
UPCOMING PROGRAMMING: This fall, we are excited to be facilitating another GoodTalk4Children (GT4) group in Carrol Gardens, Brooklyn, for 8-11 year olds! GT4 is designed to help children understand and cope with feelings and reactions to the family’s separation and divorce and provides youth with concrete, implementable skills and validating experiences as well as connections to available resources. For more information and registration details for our upcoming fall program please contact Tamara Hirsch at: (Tel) 646-598-2283 or tamara@tamarahirsch.com