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 Even Caring Families Encounter Problems...but Healthy Families Seek Solutions
Give us a call at 918.745.0095
Brenda, Tina and Terri are available to help!
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Some of Our Staff Maintain their Own Professional Webpages:
Bowden McElroy
Salley Sutmiller
Jamie Brandon
Tim Doty
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Audio Clips on Website
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Check out our new Podcast feature at CFItulsa.com
Click here to listen
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Dear Friends,
Welcome to our August 'Back to School' newsletter. As many families are wrapping up their summer breaks and preparing to return to the routine of the school year, we wanted to bring you a couple of articles for this season! I personally just attended my first open house night for preschool. It's an exciting time for many families.
Featured Articles:
- Registration announcement for PREPARE/ENRICH training.
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Mr. Bowden McElroy helps parents and teachers deal with the issue of
bullying in school.
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Mrs. Jamie Brandon provides a thoughtful article about teaching compassion (see how the two articles go together?).
- Announcing Video podcasts and resources on CFI.com
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PREPARE/ENRICH Training in September
Dr. Dale Doty will be hosting a PREPARE/ENRICH training September 17th, 2010. The cost is $175 if you register online. The cost covers materials. Take a look at the benefits of receiving training for the PREPARE/ENRICH tool on our website.
Register here.
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Bullying
School is starting soon. Most
students are thinking of academics and extra-curricular activities. Parents are thinking about buying
school supplies and clothes.
Therapists - at least this therapist - is thinking about bullies and their victims. Bullying is a hot topic around my
house: my wife and our oldest daughter both teach first grade in the public
schools. Every year each has to
deal with bullying in their classroom.
Below are some random thoughts about bullies, their victims, and the
parents of both.
For Parents:
1) Take a deep breath and gather all the facts before
rushing to judgment. There is
nothing worse than discovering, after you have shouted and threatened, that
your child is the bully not the victim. But that happens, every year in every
school.
2) Ask the school for help. Teachers and administrators come in all shapes, sizes, and
temperament but they all have the same goals: students who progress
academically and classrooms that are calm and orderly. They don't want bullies
or victims any more than you do.
When your child is the bully:
1) Bullies come in three shapes: the child who has
problems managing his impulses, thoughts, and emotions, the child who is
overwhelmed with outside pressures, and the child who has learned through trial
and error that aggressive behavior gets him/her what he/she wants. The first step is figuring out which
category your child is in.
2) In a study in the Journal of the American Academy of
Pediatrics, (August 2005) family therapy was shown to be both effective and
long-lasting. Resist the temptation to view this solely as a problem of the
child; family intervention including parenting skills and how to model
assertive behavior is far more helpful.
When your child is the victim:
Interestingly, the victim of the bully is often chosen because he has a low
self-esteem. More accurately, he or she probably has poor social skills. In
other words, the victim is chosen because he is the most likely target. Shy, quiet,
goofy, whiney, poor at expressing himself or handling emotions: it could be
anyone of these things that make him different, but whatever it is he does not
have the necessary skills to appropriately stand up for himself. Helping your child improve social skills is the best thing you can do to
help your child.
G. Bowden McElroy, M.Ed.
mcelroycounseling.com
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Compassion- Can it be Taught?
My 4th grader received the compassion award at
school. The assistant principal
stated, "This is a character trait that we cannot teach at school, it has to
come from home." This statement
got me thinking about what compassion really means and where it truly comes
from.
The Encarta Dictionary defines compassion as "sympathy for
the suffering of others, often including a desire to help; concern, kindness,
consideration, care". Sounds like Godly qualities to
me.
Wikepedia describes compassion as "a human emotion prompted
by the pain of others. More
vigorous than empathy, the feeling commonly gives rise to an active desire to
alleviate another's suffering".
If we believe God
is the "God of all comfort" (Cor 1.3) and he created us in his image, shouldn't
we have compassion inside of us? Take a look at the life of Christ, His
life was the very embodiment of compassion. As a teacher, He taught us the fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and
self-control. Galatians 5:22
Is it really that difficult to teach by example? Are we, as adults, so lacking in the
quality of compassion that we are unable to teach it to our children? As a therapist, I could not do the work
I do without the quality of compassion. I work hard every day to show the children and families I work with that
I truly care for them and their success as a family. I believe children and adults, for that matter, learn
compassion by being treated compassionately with kindness, gentleness and
respect. I think teachers can
teach this quality by being an example to their students. Can we all learn a lesson from the ultimate teacher?
Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved,
clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and
patience. Col 3:12
Jamie Brandon, M.S.
www.jamiebrandonmft.com
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Announcing CFI Video Podcasts and Resources
 The current video podcast is "What Every Youth Minister Needs to Know About Crisis Management." Take a look here.
 We also posted a video about the benefits of signing up for a PREPARE/ENRICH training coming up September17th, 2010. |
If we can be of service, please contact CFI to set up a time to consult with one of our counselors. We also provide psychological assessments and evaluations for ADHD and educational needs as well as pre-marital evaluations and counseling. To view our full range of services, please visit www.CFItulsa.com.
Sincerely,
Timothy Doty, Psy.D. on behalf of
Christian Family Institute
Our Staff includes:
Dale R. Doty, Ph.D.
William B. Berman, Ph.D.
G. Bowden McElroy, M.Ed.
Eric L. Clements, M.S.
Jill E. Butler, M.S.
Salley Sutmiller, M.S.
Lois K. Trost, M.S.W.
Jamie Brandon, M.S.
Amber R. Sherrell, M.S.
Timothy D. Doty, Psy.D.
Stephen Harnish, M.D.
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