Class helps co-parents deal with their issues

http://blog.silive.com/relationships/2010/02/class_helps_co-parents_deal_wi.html

Class helps co-parents deal with their issues | SILive.com: "Class helps co-parents deal with their issues
By Elise G. McIntosh
February 25, 2010, 4:03PM

Feuding with your co-parent? The New York Center for Interpersonal Development has just the class for you.

Parent A.C.T. (Assisting Children through Transition), the Staten Island component of the state-run Parent Education and Awareness Program, is designed to educate divorcing or separating parents about the impact of their breakup on their children.

The primary goal of the program is to teach parents ways they can reduce the stress of family changes and protect their children from the negative effects of ongoing parental conflict.

'The main themes of the program are to help parents reduce conflict through better communication and conflict-resolution skills and gain more awareness on how putting children in the middle can negatively affect them,' said Regina Shields, coordinator of the class.

The workshop is offered either as a six-hour class on Saturdays or two three-hour classes during weekday evenings.

Ms. Shields also said the class can help parents acknowledge all the negative emotions they are feeling after a drawn-out divorce process.

'Next to death, this is the most traumatic experience a family can go through,' she said, noting parents may be so focused on their own feelings of frustration, guilt, blame and depression that they forget their kids are suffering just the same. Ms. Shields said this realization is a 'real eye-opener' for co-parents.

Communication also is a big focus of the class. Participants learn about active listening, speaking calmly, 'I' statements – 'all the things that can really help de-escalate the conflict quickly,' she said.

The class also helps participants identify their goals as co-parents.

'Nine out of 10 times people are much happier and come out of the class understanding the situation much better,' said Ms. Shields.

For more information or to enroll in the class, call 718-947-4048. The cost is $100; there is a sliding scale fee."

Image cropped from a photo by Ed Yourdon

Posted By Ruth Wahtera to NY Center for Interpersonal Development at 3/02/2010 03:47:00 PM

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Grant deals an ACE to CSI-allied program - SILive.com: "Grant deals an ACE to CSI-allied program

Saturday, December 19, 2009

ADVANCE STAFF REPORT

Staten Island Advance

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The New York State Department of Labor recently awarded the New York Center for Interpersonal Development a Disconnected Youth Training Award in the amount of $221,000.

The award will allow the center to expand its existing Achievement in Career and Education program.

ACE is a New York City Department of Youth and Community Development program that provides educational and occupational training to out-of-school youths under the Workforce Investment Act.

In collaboration with the Office of Continuing Education and Professional Development at the College of Staten Island, the ACE program affords young people between the ages of 17 and 21 the opportunity to earn their GED and obtain occupational training.

The award will allow ACE to hire a staffer dedicated to helping the students enroll in college, research and apply for college scholarships, and tour colleges and universities.

The award also provides the necessary funding to enroll 25 ACE participants in the nursing assistant program and 10 ACE participants in the hospitality industry training program at the College of Staten Island. The funding also allows for training for the National Work Readiness Credential, the first national standards-based assessment and portable credential for entry-level workers. Services will enhance the opportunities for education and training for NYCID's current population of 60 out-of-school youth.

NYCID is a nonprofit organization founded in 1970 and is based at 130 Stuyvesant Pl., 5th floor, St. George.

 For more information on the ACE program, call Jennifer Saladis, program manager, at 718-947-4051."

 -- Posted By Ruth Wahtera to NY Center for Interpersonal Development at 12/20/2009 04:20:00 PM