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. Their superb fabrics see to that.
But it isn't until you put one on that their true virtues
emerge. They look marvellous. And feel even better.
Here are a few reasons why:
SHAPE
Some women's jot kets are basic ally
sc algid -down editions of men's. Ours
are c ut to a real woman's shape.
You'll marvel at the difference it
makes.
SHOULDERS
Women's shoulders are
proportionately Tess bulky than
men's. The tut is soft and feminine;
3
4
COLLAR
Much hand labour goes into shaping
the collar so it hugs your nape like
your own skin. But getting this
balance - point right is the secret of a
jacket whose beautiful hang never
deserts it, no matter how you
squirm.
FRONT
Grab here. Feel the soft springiness?
That costs money to make. Hut it
gives you a jacket that curves subtly,
holds its shape forever, and never
they look and feel right. gapes.
Our jackets start from a not -very -mere $195.
But now you have begun to know why they're worth it.
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.
One 'Li'. nicely equipped, white.
1 ONLY
GMC °S-15° PICKUP
Limited 2 door. fully loaded. 4 cylinder, 5 speed transmission, red.
2 ONLY
GMC 1/2 TONS
Roth 6 cylinder, one automatic. one
standard.
DEMONSTRATORS
BUICK REGAL - 2 door coupe. 6 automatic, black.
GRAND PRIX - & automatic. air conditioning, light green.
ACADIAN - S door hatchback. automatic, silver.
c
ST HAMILTON STRUT
130®ERICH
I PONTIAC-BUICK
CADILLAC
GMC TRUCKS
524-8941
Training for Effective Parenting (STEP)
program.
STEP is described as a realistic and sensi-
ble approach to parent-child relationships.
It was developed more than seven years ago
to help families change with the times.
Designed to help parents find more effective
ways of relating to their children, STEP has
proven itself to be an excellent self -learning
program throughout North America. It was
introduced at the Huron Centre this spring
and its immediate success greatly impress-
ed counsellors. 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.