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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1983-10-05, Page 11PAGE8 , GGDERICHSIGNAL,STAR, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5,1983 e for outh dcals with average problems Hach yehk ynote than 300 families benefit from the raffles offered at the Huron Cen- tre tor• Chtldt►nd Youth, Still, Phony peo- ple d'o not understand the role of the Clinton based Centre. Many have the misconception that it provides services only for severely disturbed ;children, still others have never heard of ft.: The Huron Centre is very much alive, .very successful and greatly appreciated by the parents and children from throughout Huron' County who have benefitted from family counselling and parent education services. Called a Children's Mental Health Centre, the counselling services began in 1977 following the initial closure of the '.'psychiatric hospital in Goderich. Concerned professional and lay people such as Dr. Frank Mills (then in charge of the Huron County Health Unit), Bruce Heath ( head of the Huron Children's Aid Society at the time), Ila Keys of Grand Bend (former special education coordinator for the Huron Board of Education) and Helen Bartliff of Clinton were convinced of the need for a family counselling service and formed a steering committee to do something about it. In 1977 the Huron Centre for Children and Youth was opened in Clinton. The Centre was designed to service the entire county and was situated in Clinton because of its central location. Today the Centre works with more than 300 families a year. Additional service is now available through satellite offices in Exeter, Stratford and Listowel. The Huron Centre also works in conjunction with a similar service in Bruce and Grey Counties. Specially trained professionals, including child psychologist Dr. Doug Reberg, Centre Director Don Keillor, counsellors Jame Gat- tinger, Shirley Hackman, Nancy McLeod, Bonnie Reberg and Sandy Stuart work to help parents help their children, giving family members a fresh perspective on their difficulties and providing a crossroads when the family fears it has reached a dead end. Counsellors believe that there are times when parents are simply not able to suc- cessfully handle every situation which arises in their family. The Centre's role is to offer help and support by talking problems out and teach families and individuals to learn to handle their difficulties. In most cases, counsellors stress, children's behavior changes as families change. The Huron Centre works partially on a referral basis, taking recommendations from $ehools, family doctors and others in the cornmunty. However many clients hear about the Centre's services through -others who have themselves been helped, and this is the best recommendation of all. Director Don Keillor believes that taking the first step, asking for help, is the greatest obstacle that most families must overcome. For some, the very act of asking for outside help seems to be an admission of failure, a damaging blow to one's sense of self-worth as a parent. However Mr. Keillor asserts that it's a secure parent who can say, "I goofed. What worked with my other children is not working with this one. Something's wrong." A problem does not have to be severe to require counselling at the Centte,.In fact the Centre sees few severly'emotionally disturbed children, and instead deals with average family difficqlties. Some situations may be dealt with in three to four sessions, others may take Six to eight visits or more. Problems may focus On a child's learning difficulties at school, or disruptive behavior that is causing trouble • at home and at school, or a teenager's actions are worrying parents. Sometimes teenagers want to talk with someone outside the family about drugs or alcohol, concerns about girlfriends, boyfriends, parents and school. Some new parents choose to visit the Cen- tre, to seek advice on parenthood and Mr. Keillor noted, "Typically the younger you can work with a child, the quicker the results. Once behavior patterns have been in place for a long time, they are hard to un- do." The Centre has special programs, design- ed to work with particular areas of child - parent difficulties. The Systematic Training For Effective Parenting program focuses on helping parents adapt to changing socie- ty, by developing better communication skills and training methods with their children. Another program aims to help separated or divorced couples learn how they can still work together as parents and still make joint family decisions. It teaches that while two people may not be compatible as marriage.partners, they can still be good parent partners. The Huron Centre is a modern thinking, i I A DOES DAVID E. WHITE HAVE WOMEN'S CLOTHES FOR YOU! 1. If classic describes your clothing outlook... 2. If you want clothes that are not just beautiful, but also beautifully made... 3. If it annoys you that men get free alterations as 4 matter of course and women hardly ever... 4. 1f you expect your important clothing purchases to do you proud, season after season... 5. If you've been hoping to meet a salesperson who is interested without being pushy... If even one of these things describes how you are or how you feel, no doubt about it: DAVID E. WHITE IS THE STORE FOR YOU 1• 1 2 ANATOMY OF A REALLY GOOD JACKET Even on their hangers, our jackets and blazers look very good. 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David E.Whitc) Clothier for Men &Women 36 LShoppers Square. oderich 524-4312 progiessive institution. Dr. Reberg ex- plained, "Sometimes it seems to be the world's hardest job, growing up in the '808." The psychologist came to the Huron Cen- tre three years ago via Michigan, Toronto and Hamilton. After a background in university teaching, he is stimulated by the ongoing challenge of applying information gained in the laboratory to a community set- ting and finds the results gratifying and rewarding. Dr. Reberg stresses the sanctity of con- fidentiality between Centre counsellors and their clients. Counsellors will not contract other agencies without written permission. Clients may choose to seek help through group programs or by individual counselling. Families, mothers, fathers and children, are asked to join in since counsellors prefer to work with the whole family. Sometimes just bringing problems out into the open and discussing them together often helps. Often the counsellors will suggest parents try other tactics in dealing with their children when a consis- tent action is only reinforcing a negative reaction. Counsellors work day and evening hours, to accommodate working parents. The counsellors do not go out to the homes, but ask families to meet at the Centre. This, they believe, motivates people to show a ge- nuine interest. The Centre also provides a neutral environment where there's no disruption by television or telephones. Parents and counsellors meet in a quiet, comfort of a private office. Children, also encouraged to visit the Centre, are enter- tained with games and toys in a nearby playroom. There's always a hot pot of coffee brewing for parents and a full jar of cookies for the youngsters. - "It's a pretty friendly place," Counsellor Janie Gattinger noted. 'People are often 'surprised when they get here.' The Centre cautions that sessions may take time, extra effort and patience. There are no magic answers to learning how to handle family problems. Counsellors offer guidance and ideas, but the parents themselves must decide what action to take and they must implement the solutions. Dr. Reberg says that parents are best suited to bring about changes in a fami- ly. He affirms, "It is always gratifying when we see positive changes in a child as a result of sorting out difficulties. We hope a large portion of our work will also have future benefits and children in turn will grow up to be happier, healthier persons, better suited to parenthood themselves." In essence, the prime role of the Huron Centre for Children and Youth is to preserve the family unit. The Centre, including satellite offices may be contacted at 482-3931. There is no charge for the service. It is completely fund- ed by the provincial government. Nancy McLeod, left and Janie Gattinger, right, are two of the specialists, trained to deal with family problems. They are part of the team, directed by Don Keillor, centre, who help more than 300 families each year at the Huron Centre for Children and Youth. The countrywide service is located in Clinton. (Shelley McPhee photo) STEP program offers sensitive approach Parenting, many are realizing, is not the simple responsibility of raising offspring. For generations past, parenting has been understood as a clearly defined, orderly relationship between parents and children. However today more and more parents are finding that raising children is not the sim- ple task that it was once proclaimed to be. The children of today are not raised by the "seen, not heard" philosophy. Theories like "father knows best" and "do what your mother says" no longer apply. Today's youngsters are recognized as in- telligent, caring, reasoning, valuable members of society. With that realization comes the theory that parenting must also be recognized as a vital position. Nancy McLeod explains parenting as, "the single most important thing we do. Through it we are forming another genera- tion." Nancy is a parenting counsellor. With her Master of Education in Counselling Psychology, she is one of the seven profes- sionals who work at the Huron Centre for Children and Youth in Clinton. . She along with Janie Gattinger are leading the highly successful Systematic We still have a decent selection of 3 CAR New and Demonstrator SAVE LOTS OF MONEY Take advantage of year end discounts and get extra trade-in dollars for your used car or truck. 1 O_ 13 PONTIAC ACADIAN 5 door hatchback sedan, silver, regular fuel engine. 3 ONLY FIREBIRDS One dark blue Trans Am with T -Bar roof. One light blue 'SE', 6 cylinder. Ono beige standard Firebird, 6 cylinder, with air conditioning. 1 ONLY. BUICK CENTURY 1 ONLY '83 PONTIAC 2000 SUNBIRD CONVERTIBLE 1.8 L OHC EFI engine. 5 speed transmission. Red. 2 ONLY PONTIAC GRAND PRIX Ono brougham, completely loaded, white. 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Janie, a counsellor with her Masters degree in Social Work, said that the public response to the initial course was tremendous and has resulted in a waiting list of parents who are interested in taking part in the program. Currently a nine week STEP program has just gotten underway. The Huron Centre also sponsored a suc- cessful STEP program in Kincardine and Janie stresses, "STEP has a good reputa- tion. Throughout North America it has been very successful." STEP is a parent-child awareness pro- gram. It is aimed to help parents understand child behavior and misbehavior and help parents develop a better understanding of their child. The program focuses on improving family relationships and communication skills. It stresses the use of encouragement, instead of praise, to build a child's confidence and feelings of self-worth. It teaches parents how to become a better listener and develops improved comunication between t .parent-andehild., It attempts to show parents how children can be guided to explore alternative ways of behaving and encourages parents to replace reward -and -punishment with learning - from -consequences. ' STEP is set up as a nine week course. Parents, mothers and fathers, meet at the Centre once a week. They gather in the com- fortable, relaxed setting of the Centre and through the guidance given by Nancy and Janie, they study child raising problems and concerns: "It's an opportunity for parents to learn from one another," Nancy says. "Parents come up with their own solu- tions and they help each other," Janie adds. "We're not experts in parenting. We organize and facilitate the group. They have the expertise and the real life experiences to work with." Parents have an opportunity to test the ideas generated through the program with homework assignments and according to Nancy, "They come back full of vitality and energy. They talk about what worked and what didn't work." STEP attempts to offer help for all types of problems between parents and children, but it doesn't profess to give the absolute guidelines for perfect parenting. "Each parent can find parts of the pro- gram that will work for them," Janie says. The STEP program counsellors are en- thusiastic to see the tremendous public response tor the course. Nancy enthuses, "The parents are dedicated and excited. It's good to know that there are people out there who care about the job they're doing." STEP is designed for normal, everyday parents who have normal, everyday children, with normal, everyday problems. Concerns can appear simple or com- plicated, they can involve anything from classroom difficulties to sibling rivalry. The program may help some fulltime working parents to establish quality time with their children, not\just quantity of time. For others it may develop better communication and teach parents how to recognize extra good efforts on the part of their children, how children should be praised for their ef- forts and encouraged to continue, not only criticized and punished for highly visible, wrong doings. As Nancy explains, "Try to catch your child doing something good. Children learn through attention and if you react only to negative acts, it may encourage that behavior more." STEP is not designed to deal with severely disturbed children. In fact, much of the work at The Huron Centre deals with nor- mal children and Janie noted, "It's the ex- ception for us here to see severely disturbed children." STEP tries to deal with general concerns and when private and personal problems are brought up, individual counselling is recommended. The program is really an idea exchange session, with some guidance coming from the two counsellors. Like all programs at the Huron Centre, STEP stresses involve- ment of both parents. The Centre believes that if parents work together it helps in the development of the child. "The fathers are equally as involved in the program," Nancy notes. "We thought we might have had to draw them out." There's no doubt that the program is a success, based on the acceptance of it by parents in Huron County.