Bonding with and Disciplining Teens

Susan Capell just sent me a few really great articles on teens. I hope that you can check these out and use these with your clients who need additional ways to bond with their teens or those who are struggling to discipline them. Thanks Susan!

15 Low or No Cost Ideas for Spending Time with your Teen

Bonding with your Teen

Points to Consider when Disciplining your Teen

April Advanced Training Info

Thanks to all those who attended the Advanced Training last night. It was a great training and I think we all walked away with some good ideas. For those of you who missed it, here is some of the information that was shared last night:

1) Conflict Resolution in the Family: Joseph Fletcher, Wasatch Mental Health

Questions to ask in conflict (such as when siblings are fighting- take each one out and ask these):

• What do you want?
• What are you doing to get what you want?
• Is what you are doing working?
• Do you want to find another way?

Try to redirect the situation towards something positive. Such as when there is a fight, redirect by asking, "What do you like to do together?" This changes the mood and redirects the family from petty issues towards something more meaningful. Then make a plan to do more of the things that the family like to do better. Joseph said, "sometimes you have to pull your head out of the program and go somewhere else."

Pay attention to the family's culture. This doesn't mean their ethnic culture, but how they function and interact with each other.

2) Positive Reinforcement: HollyJane Dixon, Peer Parent

HollyJane talked about ways to reinforce positive behaviors (instead of harping on negative behaviors). I will post more of her ideas as I get them, but here is a link to her blog, which talks about their family's "Dixon Store" and "Dixon Dollars":

Dixon Dollars/ Dixon Store

3) I talked about my maternity leave coverage. I will be on maternity leave from about July 1- Oct 1. I have outlined the major points of my coverage in the following document:

Megan's Maternity Leave Coverage

We will go over this more in the next two months through email and another training in June.

*I also had the supplies available at the training last night. If you would still like some supplies for yourself to use in your lessons or give to your families, we still have games, puzzles, books, DVDs, and art supplies left. Let me know! Also, if you took some items, please take the time to send me a short email saying thank you to the Christmas Box foundation, who gathered these items for us.

April Advanced Training

It is time again for an Advanced Training. Our next one is scheduled for Wednesday April 21 from 5:30-7:30 pm in the SPANISH FORK DCFS OFFICE (607 E Kirby Lane Spanish Fork). Please make note that this training is on a Wednesday (a week from today!!) and it is in SPANISH FORK. We had to change things up a bit to accommodate our speaker and work around meetings in Provo.

Our main presenter will be Joseph Fletcher, a therapist from Wasatch Mental Health. He will be presenting on Resolving Conflict within the Family. This was a requested topic and should be really great to help you teach conflict resolution skills specific to family relationships (siblings, parent/child, and parent/parent). We will also have a presentation from our very own Holly Jane Dixon on a peer parenting skill. We will also cover updates on coverage for my maternity leave and program announcements.

And, I will have all of the donated supplies at the training for you to check out for your families!

As always, we will be having a pot luck dinner/ treat-fest, so bring something to share (if you would like).

Please register at the right side of the blog! Thanks!

The Supplies Are In!!!!

I have great news!! The supplies I asked you about are in! The Christmas Box organization collected donations for us and we got some great stuff! We have brand new games, art supplies, books, and more. Here is a list of items that we received:

Supplies List

We also have hygiene kits for children based on age (these include toothpaste, hair brushes, diapers for little kids, etc). There is a little different process to get these, so talk to me if you are interested.

Here are the rules for getting these items:

*These are meant to be for a specific family (for them to keep), but I would be ok with you taking a supply (such as a game) to use with all of your families. You would then need to return it to DCFS when you are done with it. If you give it to a family, it is their to keep.
*These items should be given to a family for a purpose! Use them as a reward or for the parents to use as a reward, or as part of a lesson.
*You may take up to 2 items per family (usually- but talk to me if you have special circumstances).
*You have to get the items FROM ME! I am trying to protect this great resource and want to make sure that as many people can benefit from them. You will need to talk to me about setting up a time for you to come get the items from me. Or, I can have them for you by the next training (which will be at the end of April). I need to mark who is getting what.

Thanks for your help with this! I hope this can be a great thing for you and your families! Oh, and if you have any items you want to donate or know of anyone who wants to donate, I am hoping to have this be a continual thing for us to access supplies. I will continue to solicit donations to keep us stocked.

And, if you want to write a thank you note to the nice ladies at the Christmas Box house, I will take those for them!