We are thrilled to announce that Bainbridge Youth Services (BYS) is acquiring Raising Resilience, with the CONNECTIONS CAFÉ program intact, as their parenting arm. Raising Resilience is now a program of Bainbridge Youth Services and will remain focused on parenting support. Many key stakeholders have wanted to see this happen for a long time, so this is a cause for celebration. This is an opportunity to meet the needs of our community in a deeper way. Please know that your support will have an even more significant impact now that Raising Resilience’s programs will be operating under the umbre ..read more

At our recent Raising Resilience CONNECTIONS CAFÉ session on Breaking the Cycle of Reactive Parenting, Hunter Clark-Fields spoke about her book, Raising Good Humans. As a parent and therapist, I appreciate that Hunter took time to focus on the link between our nervous system and our brain. Many self-help and parenting books leave out this imperative piece of the puzzle. When our nervous systems go into fight or flight response, we no longer have access to the front part of our brain where we do all our reasoning. In his new book, The Whole-Brain Child, Dan Siegel calls this front part the ‘up ..read more

As part of Raising Resilience's focus on mindful parenting, Raising Resilience board member, ,Tara Powers-Hausmann of College Fit Consulting, is addressing how parents can "step back, slow down, breathe, and practice compassion" as they assess their child's readiness for college. Read below for Tara's top five readiness skills. Parents, we know that helping your child prepare for college can be stressful. To help you stay grounded through the process, we're inviting you to register for the free CONNECTIONS CAFE session happening March 15th @ 7pm via zoom. The session features Hunter Clarke-Fie ..read more

As part of Raising Resilience's focus on mindful parenting, we invited committee member, Kristin Cronin Boone MS LMFTA, to contribute a piece on how we communicate with our children. Read below to find out if you are a Tiger, Jellyfish, or Dolphin and how each parenting style affects your child. We also encourage you to participate in our community-wide parenting book read. Get your copy of RAISING GOOD HUMANS: A Mindful Guide to Breaking the Cycle of Reactive Parenting and Raising Kind, Confident Kids and register for the free CONNECTIONS CAFE session happening March 15th @ 7pm via zoom with ..read more

As a continuation of our series on Substance Abuse Prevention, we are reposting the following article from Julia Jensine, CDP (originally posted in November 2019). Raising Resilience's Substance Abuse Prevention session is Tuesday, October 27th @ noon via our virtual parent support program, CONNECTIONS CAFE. The event is free, but requires registration: ,Information and Registration Most drug abuse prevention is taught to kids when they’re old enough to have drugs offered to them and focuses on why they should refuse those offers. I don’t think that’s anywhere near as effective as what happe ..read more

Raising Resilience sat down with Dr. Allison Kress and Master Steph Aduddell, co-founders of the new venture Be Bold Be Brave to find out what they're up to: Who are you? Dr. Allison Kress, a nationally recognized Clinical Psychologist, has specialized in teen girls and women for over twenty years and has been featured as an expert contributor and consultant through a number of national media outlets. Master Steph Aduddell is a 4th dan degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do and a 2nd dan black belt in Moo Duk Kwon. She has been practicing and teaching martial artists through her schools for over t ..read more

As part of the “We Are Raising Resilience Together” awareness and fundraising campaign, parents - and all who care about youth - are invited to take the pledge to seek connections, use and share resources that foster acceptance, self-discovery, self-care, positivity, perspective, and hope. The American Psychological Association identifies these as key to our capacity to recover from difficulties, and Raising Resilience delivers programs that make it easier for families to pursue them. TAKE THE PLEDGE "We raise resilience year by year, and kid by kid, and it really does take a village,” said ..read more

As part of Raising Resilience's series on Sexual Assault Awareness, we partnered with Bark (parental control app) to bring you supplemental content as a resource. They are also extending a 20% discount for Raising Resilience community members if you use the code, RESILIENCE. Keep reading for practical tips on how to talk to your kids about consent and sexual assault... By Jordan Bissell, Creative Content Strategist at Bark It’s tough to help your teen work through their chemistry homework or figure out how to get through an entire day without picking a fight with their sibling. But having a c ..read more

As a follow up to Raising Resilience's CONNECTIONS CAFE: Parenting Through Change session, we reached out to local occupational therapist and recent Connections Cafe presenter, Lucia Lara. In this post, Lucia offers her perspective and shares suggestions from her colleagues to help families with young and/or neurodiverse children as they transition back to school and activities. Keep the Lines of Communication Open Whether excited or hesitant about the return to in-person learning or social activities, some children might face more challenges when routines change. Anxious feelings come from n ..read more

Raising Resilience board member, Lisa Gsellman, sat down with grief counselor, Nani Baran, MA, LMHC to ask how parents can support their kids as they process and grieve the loss of their friends and classmates. Nani shared wisdom from her years in private practice and leading grief support groups through Harrison Medical Center. In the video, Nani answer’s some of the following questions: · What does processing look like in teens? · What are helpful conversations to have with our kids? · What are some conversation starters? · What if our teens need help beyond what we can offer them? · How do ..read more