News & Event
The concept of reflective functioning, the capacity to meaningfully reflect on states of mind in self and other, will be the focus of this Master Class. We will explore the clinical relevance of reflective functioning as a therapeutic goal with respect to clients with traumatic backgrounds. Findings from a 20 yearlong study from infancy to young adulthood that assessed the capacity for reflective functioning – the most powerful predictor of quality of parenting – will be discussed. Several video tape vignettes illustrating clinical work will serve as examples of ways to enhance reflective capacities.
Please note the name and description of the September 23 Master Class have been updated to reflect the broader topic that will be discussed.
Miriam Steele, PhD is a professor of psychology and the Director of Clinical Training at the New School for Social Research, Clinical Psychology Department, and the Co-Director of the Center for Attachment Research. Her work aims to bridge the world of psychoanalytic thinking and clinical practice with contemporary research in child development.
8:30 - 9:00 a.m. Check in and coffee 9:00 - 11:30 a.m. Program
Cost: $50. Space is limited. Applications for continuing education credits have been submitted.
Register
Registration is required before the session. For more information, please email ipti@jfcsboston.org or call 781-693-5652.
Substance use, misuse, and dependence impact the perinatal and early parenting period significantly. Rates of substance use disorders continue to rise in the population of women of child-bearing age. Mental health professionals, medical providers, and allied health professionals increasingly come into contact with mothers, fathers, infants, and alternate care providers who can benefit from improved practices. This course will offer a review of the latest research on the links between attachment theory, neurobiology, and addiction; opportunities to learn about the various ways of supporting families; and a forum in which conversations about complex policies, practice choices, and ethical dilemmas can be rich opportunities for growth.
Amy Sommer, LICSW is the Clinical Coordinator for Project NESST® (Newborns Exposed to Substances: Support and Therapy) and Project Bright at the JF&CS Center for Early Relationship Support®. She has provided extensive training on perinatal mood disorders in women with substance use disorders, as we as on using trauma-informed care to support staff and families caring for substance-exposed newborns. Ms. Sommer co-authored the 2015 Zero to Three article "Building a Model Program or Substance-Exposed Newborns and Their Families: From Needs Assessment to Intervention, Evaluation, and Consultation."
Providers from various disciplines who work with parents and infants impacted by parental substance use will find this course highly instructive. It will provide a rich learning opportunity for clinical social workers, psychologists, licensed mental health counselors, and allied health professionals, including addiction treatment professionals, visiting nurses, Early Intervention providers, and maternal health/mental health providers.
When: Tuesdays, September 6 & 20, October 11 & 25, November 8 & 22, December 6 & 20 9:00 - 11:00 a.m.
Where: JF&CS Headquarters 1430 Main Street, Waltham
Cost: $900 per person. 12-person class maximum. An application for CEUs has been submitted.
Registration is required before the event. Space is limited. For more information or to register, please email IPTI@jfcsboston.org or 781-693-5652.
Join JF&CS and the Massachusetts March of Dimes for a FREE conference for families affected by premature birth.
Perspective on prematurity: a mother and father share their unique viewpoints of a shared experience. Presenters Barbara & Richard Van Hoosen are the parents of a former 23-weeker who had a traumatic, complicated NICU stay. They will share their perspectives on those 112 uncertain days.
Parents will have the opportunity to come together and share their experiences from the smaller group conversations.
When: Sunday, November 20 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. (Registration and light lunch from 11:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.)
Where: JF&CS Headquarters 1430 Main Street, Waltham, MA 02451
Questions? Contact Deborah Walker at dwalker@jfcsboston.org or 781-693-5652.
A 3-hour social and respite program that offers music therapy and recreational swim for children and young adults with moderate to severe neurological and physical disabilities. This structured program provides regular opportunities for participants to be integrated and interact with members of their community as well as form friendships with the other participants. The HALO Foundation generously provides funding for Sunday Swim & Sing, substantially subsidizing the program cost for participants. HALO is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for children with neurological disabilities such as Cerebral Palsy, traumatic brain injury, epilepsy, etc. At this time, a sole diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder and other non-neurological diagnoses do not qualify for this respite opportunity.
Please visit halo.org for more information about the HALO Foundation.
When: The program meets 20 Sundays a year from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Where: Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center 333 Nahanton Street, Newton
RSVP required: Contact Angela Waring, Respite and Recreation Program Manager, at awaring@jfcsboston.org or 781-697-7232.
This five-week support group is an opportunity for mothers of young children to explore how the loss and absence of a mother influences one’s own parenting experience as well as to receive and give support to others in the group.
The Center for Early Relationship Support® provides services designed to meet the many complex needs of families in the first three years of their child’s life. Our services are grounded in the knowledge that nurturing maternal strengths within a caring community promotes secure infant-parent attachments. Open to the entire community.
When: TBD
Cost: $125 for the series of five sessions. Registration and payment via check or credit card are required before the first session. As with all CERS services, reduced fees are available based on need.
Please contact Diane Gardner at dgardner@jfcsboston.org to register or for more information.
Save the date for the 2018 Women's Breakfast.
Join us for the JF&CS Women’s Breakfast, benefiting the Center for Early Relationship Support (CERS). CERS is a center of excellence for direct services, training, supervision, and consultation that focuses on the earliest infant-parent relationship.
Our services are designed to meet the many complex needs of families in the first three years of their child’s life. They are grounded in the knowledge that nurturing maternal strengths within a caring community promotes secure infant-parent attachments. We serve families of all cultures and religions throughout Eastern and Central Massachusetts.
When: Thursday, June 7, 2018 9:30 - 11:30 a.m.
Where: Westin Waltham Hotel 70 3rd Avenue, Waltham
Honoree: Kathleen VanDernoot
Co-Chairs: Betsy Cohen, Jessica Myers, and Lorri Owades
PURCHASE SPONSORSHIPS, TICKETS, AND ADS
Presented by Don Meyer, Director, Sibling Support Project
Sibshops reflect a belief that our communities need to acknowledge the difficulties faced by brothers and sisters of children with special needs and provide them with the opportunity to connect with each other in the same way that many parents of children with special needs have benefited from sharing their experiences.
Open to interested participants across New England including adult siblings, parents, grandparents, and family members of children/teens as well as professionals, organizational staff who wish to facilitate a Sibshop in their local community, and social workers who work with families that have siblings as part of the family.
A Sibling's Perspective: Interviews with Don Meyer and Seven Young Siblings
If you are interested in your typically developing sibling participating in the demonstration sibshop, coordinated by Don Meyer during the conference, we are looking for children ages 8-13 year old to participate in Friday's Demonstration Workshop. During the Demonstration Sibshop, adult participants will put on their jeans, tee-shirts, and sneakers to join Don Meyer as he conducts a Sibshop for a group of 8-to-13 year old local brothers and sisters. This workshop provides participants with the materials and a first hand account of what they will need to start, plan, and conduct the activities for their own Sibshop group in their community. The Demonstration Sibshop can also be the “kick-off” for an on-going program in the host community. Following the Sibshop, trainees will debrief and finalize plans for creating Sibshops in their own communities. Email Doreen Cummings at dcummings@jfcsboston.org to sign up to participate.
The primary goal of this workshop is to train new Sibshops facilitators and administrators as well as adult siblings, service providers, and parents. During the two days of the Sibshop training, these participants will learn about sibs’ lifelong concerns, find out how to organize a local Sibshop, and experience what a Sibshop is as they join Don and local young brothers and sisters for a four-hour demonstration sibshop. Trainees who would like to become a Sibshops facilitator must attend both days of the Sibshops training. Upon completion of the two-day training, they may (upon registration) start their own local Sibshop.
The secondary goal of this workshop is to educate parents, service providers, and others about sibs’ ever-changing issues across the lifespan. This is an audience interested in sibling issues but not necessarily interested in how to run a Sibshop. This audience attends the first day of the two-day training.
View a typical two-day Sibshops training schedule.
When: Thursday, May 4 and Friday, May 5 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Where: Leventhal-Sidman JCC 333 Nahanton Street, Newton
Cost Day 1 Only: Parents/Students - $110, Professionals - $160 Days 1 & 2: Parents/Students - $160, Professionals - $210
Please contact Doreen Cummings at dcummings@jfcsboston.org with questions.
Offered by Jewish Family & Children's Service in collaboration with the Massachusetts Sibling Support Network and thanks to generous funding from the Ruderman Family Foundation.
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