PortlandParentingConnection.org

Fall 2007 Conference

Our first parenting conference will be this Fall (October 20 and 21) featuring Aletha Solter. She is an internationally acclaimed author and workshop leader who has contributed a great deal to the parenting literature regarding children’s needs, the causes of children’s stress and trauma, and a child’s natural healing mechanisms. She says that stress and trauma is inevitable in a child’s daily life, and the main natural healing mechanism is to cry. What most parents do is to try to stop a baby’s crying by whatever means is necessary – typically nursing,or distraction. This is not ideal however, because the child gets the message that the parent doesn’t want to hear their upsetness; that there’s something wrong with being upset; and baby begins to believe that when they’re upset they need to nurse or somehow get distracted from their emotions. The best response, once you have ascertained that your child’s immediate needs have been met, is to lovingly hold your baby and encourage the crying. After he has finished crying, you will find yourself holding a little person who will probably fall asleep peacefully in your arms, sleep soundly, and then awaken bright and alert. Understanding this ideal way to respond to a baby’s crying promotes a basic paradigm shift for parents that is tremendously helpful for the well being of their children and will probably have positive ramifications that will last the rest of their lives.

Dr. Solter will deliver two half-day presentations: “How to Respond to Tears, Fears, and Tantrums”, and “Discipline Without Punishment or Rewards”. She will also participate in a panel at the end of the Conference with the other presenters.

Also presenting will be Ba and Josette Luvmour, the two principals with EnCompass Families. They have over 20 years of practical experience helping families understand kids needs, learning styles, and how parents develop along with their kids when they put these understandings into practice.

The final presenter will be Sheila Murphy, a local chiropractor who works with babies and children using craniosacral- and body-centered psychotherapy. She has an amazing ability to find out why a kid is stuck in a painful and dysfunctional state and to help them get un-stuck rapidly. Her presentation, “Becoming an Extraordinary Parent”, will draw on her years of experience of seeing the various s reasons that have caused kids to become stuck in these painful and upsetting dysfunctional states and of seeing what works to cure and prevent these problems.

Portland Parenting Connection