Hi, I'm Karen! I am the current
student intern here at
FAME and am very excited for all of the work that I have
the opportunity to be involved in here until April. As my first blog post, I
thought I would share what I have been up to!
SFF
is a 14-week family program for children ages 7-12 and their parent(s). This
program is designed for families where one or more members have a mental health
and/or addiction issue. The
program helps with parenting skills, effective communication, and improving the
family dynamic.
Meeting once a week for 3 hours,
the program is broken down into four sections. During the first hour, participants and staff all sit down for
dinner together where we share stories, bond, and provide encouragement.
Following dinner, the children and parents part into separate rooms where
programming takes place: teaching skills for positive communication,
relationship building, and appropriate methods for sharing feelings. Finally, during the third hour,
everyone comes together for a family group session where the skills from the
previous weeks are reviewed and discussed (example: what worked well with
implementation in the home, and what did not), and skills introduced that day
can be actively practiced by all members, with any struggles being worked
through as a whole family.
I
am excited for the next 13 weeks to witness both individual and familial
growth, and to also grow in my own learning experiences.
I
find it important to highlight this new affiliation with
The Jean Tweed Centre,
as building the bond and cohesion within the community through positive
relationships creates a much-needed sense of continuity. Developing
partnerships and a true collaboration in the community (schools, families,
agencies, hospitals, etc.) aids in the support that we can provide to our
clients, and meeting their needs.
