Nurturing Attachments
A program of hope and support for parents: NEW DATES
Laura Banks and Mary-Jo Land are excited to invite you to this interactive, hope-filled and engaging training
Program to run for 3 week-ends: February 2015 and April 2015 and TBA
Three Weekends:
Module 1- February 20, 21 and 22, 2015
Module 2- April 24, 25 and 26, 2015
Module 3: Date To be Announced
Fee is $400 per couple per module. "Couple" refers to a primary caregiver and another parent or other support person. Payment schedule: Full payment guarantees your spot but if this is difficult payment plans can be discussed with the presentors. Our goal is to share our knowledge and support families. We want to ensure those wanting to be here can come. Because of the limited enrolment, and the importance of relationship and support among the participants, we encourage all couples to enrol in all sessions. No refunds are available but may be transferred to another module.
Included in this fee is the Nurturing Attachments book, 54 hours of training and a parent membership to ATTACh(when all three modules are registered and paid for)
The training workshop is limited to 12 couples. Please register early. If there is interest from other locales, we will look to hosting trainings in other areas.
To Register:
Mary-Jo at: homeland@sympatico.ca
Laura at: labanks@rogers.com
or call
Mary-Jo: 289-237-7056
Laura: 705-727-2311
We will send you a registration package.
Friday, Feb 20, 2015, 05:00 PM
Adoption Council of Ontario, 36 Eglinton Ave. W. Toronto ON Canada M4R 1A1
Laura's Story
When I adopted my first daughter, 15 years ago, I was overcome with joy. I had waited for a long time to be her mother and I loved her instantly. But ….she wasn’t so sure how she felt about me. I was not the first person or second to “be” her mother. She had memories of this mother thing and she needed time to figure it all out. Before I knew and understood better what was happening in her little brain I wondered if I was being “oversensitive” and people told me that I was. But there was a quiet little voice inside of me that kept telling me, “something’s off”. I learned that children who had experienced fear, hunger, abandonment, or maltreatment in the first 2-4 years of their life did indeed live in the world differently. They were deeply impacted by what had happened to them as infants. They often had difficulties controlling their emotions, behaviour and bodies. This was both a great relief to me, knowing that maybe I wasn’t an awful mother after all but also a great worry. What now? As my life and journey into family continued, I was soon further challenged to find answers for my children. I have been a foster parent for over 18 years and am an adoptive Mom. I have travelled to orphanages overseas and held babies in my arms that stared back with empty eyes. I have rocked 7 year olds in my arms too terrified to go to sleep because of the memories that come back when their eyes close. I have felt hopeless, sad and at times angry because I didn't know what to do. My answers started to come over a decade ago when I found the book, The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog, by Dr. Bruce Perry. Since then I have spent many hours training in the United States to find ways to help children heal and families be able to live in harmony. I had the opportunity to meet Dr. Kim Golding at an ATTACh conference, and her empathic and gentle nature is very much a part of why this training is so effective with traumatized children. If you are parenting a child who has spent a significant amount of time in an institutional setting such as a hospital or orphanage, been exposed to neglectful and / or abusive parenting or has experienced multiple moves in foster care or kinship care settings then this training could change your experience of parenting and family life. I would love to share what I have discovered through the children who have come into my life with you.
Click on Pictures below for more information.
Family Journeys
Laura Banks
It time to Relax, Refuel, and Re-claim your family Atmosphere
Come join us. Space is very limited.
We are open to requests from other areas. Laura and Mary-Jo will travel when schedule and busy family life allow. We are always excited to talk to others to explore how we can facilitate helping more families.
Over the years, I have moved professionally into supporting adoptive parents and their children on this journey. When children are hurt, when they fear closeness and become defensive with anger or rejection, parenting will be more difficult. In fact, parenting may cause us to feel just those same feelings: hurt, fearing to get close to our child, and defensive with anger or rejection. Sometimes, we feel deep shame and sadness. This is not how we thought it would be. No one told us. No one could tell us.
This series of three weekend training workshops is intended to help parents feel supported and not alone on the journey. We will explore how it comes to be that our children can't let us love them so well and what that means to how we parent in return. The goal of the Nurturing Attachments training is just that: Laura and I hope to guide you to nurture your child's attachment to you, while we support you in nurturing your bond with your child.
Click on the pictures below for more information
Mary-Jo Land, CPT, CDDP
Some of the family!
Gran and Ben.
Agenda for Nurturing Attachments
Friday-
5pm-9pm- Introductions and training begins
Saturday
9am-noon- Training
noon-1:15pm- Lunch on your own
1:15pm-5pm- Training
Sunday
9am- noon- training
noon-1:15pm- Lunch on your own
1:15pm-3pm- Wrap up for week-end
Light, healthy snacks and beverages provided throughout the day.