By Siobhan McDevitt, L.M.F.T. Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist/Core Class Facilitator and Carol Castanon, Child & Family Consultant, Former Director of Secure Beginnings Newborn: 0 to 3 months This stage is the beginning of the infant-parent relationship. While the prenatal experience has influenced child, mother, father and caregiver in many ways, sometimes profoundly, it is with the...
By Terra Solecki, Secure Beginnings Class Facilitator / Educator Black and white Toddlers are in the process of rapidly categorizing the world around them. Categorization is essential for humans, as it allows us to make predictions in novel situations. Because toddlers are working so hard to actively create different categories from the world around them, their categories...
By Terra Solecki, Class Facilitator, Educator When faced with challenging, upsetting, or unsafe behavior from our children, we want to respond to our children in respectful ways that build partnership. Instead, often, in the moment after something heavy has been thrown, we have been hit with the toy car, or another child has been pushed, our...
By Carol Castanon; Child & Family Consultant, Former Director of Secure Beginnings All people experience crisis or trauma at some time in the life of their family. It may be divorce, illness, or death. Sometimes a financial crisis can have a devastating impact on the stability of family. Natural disasters, accidents, and violence may impact family...
by Jessica Donahue, B.S., B.A. Human Development: Early Childhood Development, Counseling Psychology Graduate Student, Secure Beginnings Facilitator. Digital devices and technology have become interwoven into the fabric of our everyday lives. This technology enables us to communicate, collaborate, create, store, share, and learn with greater ease and speed. Today, babies are born into a world where their...
by Carol Castanon Secure Beginnings Parent Consultant There are many cultures which celebrate or remember those who are no longer with us. There is a history of ancient ceremonies symbolizing and warding off bad ghosts, while other rituals honored those that were holy. The word Halloween comes from hallowed, or those that are holy. Dia de...
by Carol Castanon Secure Beginnings Parent Consultant I’ve been hearing concerns some parents have about mask-wearing, and how children might be affected by seeing people from the “eyes up.” Parents and grandparents have expressed worry that children will not see the full expression of others. Others worry that children will become fearful of other people. As parents...
We stand for a vision where violence against communities of color ends, and we envision a world of healthy, resilient communities where Black lives matter. Dear Families and Supporters of Family, We are writing today in solidarity with the daughters, sons, brothers, sisters, grandparents, uncles and aunties who have lost loved ones because of institutional racism, oppression...
By Andrea Haffner, Licensed Marriage Family Therapist Secure Beginnings Senior Clinical Advisor The period before and after the birth of a baby is one of immense change and adjustment and can evoke a great range of feelings, from profound joy and connection to great worry, insecurity, and sadness. The experience of motherhood is complicated, and for...
by Carol Castanon Secure Beginnings Parent Consultant June 2022 Update Dear Families, The article below was written at the beginning of the pandemic. There have been many variations of it, dating back to the initial piece written in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, 2005. Here we are today with the absolute tragic shooting of little children and teachers at Robb Elementary School. During...