JBBBS Hosts Annual Conference

Over 150 social workers, teachers, parents and guests were charged with becoming “charismatic adults” to children in their lives at Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters Second Annual, “Promoting Resilience in Children” conference on Friday, March 20th. Dr. Robert Brooks a leading speaker on the themes of resilience, self-esteem, motivation and family relationships, and Sarah Ward, M.S. an expert on executive functioning skills were the event’s keynote speakers.

 

Dr. Brooks shared stories from his work at McLean Hospital with youth that were labeled as destined to fail. When Dr. Brooks spoke with those that had defied the odds, each one cited an adult that believed in them unconditionally. He urged those in attendance to be the “charismatic adult” that makes the difference for children on the brink. After hearing various strategies from Dr. Brooks, one social worker in attendance said “Robert Brooks was excellent- engaging, funny, and had great stories to illustrate his points. I received ideas and solutions that will change my life as a professional and a parent.” Following his talk, Dr. Brooks met with members in attendance and signed copies of his books, including ”Raising Resilient Children : Fostering Strength, Hope, and Optimism in Your Child”.

 

Sarah Ward, M.S. is considered one of the foremost experts on executive function skills in children. Ward is dedicated to developing innovatitve treatment strategies and educating the community to understand, care for, and celebrate learning and behavior-based differences. She spoke to the audience about strategies that they could use in their professional work with children as well as their own children. Many attendees found Ward to be “inspiring, motivating and extremely helpful.”

 

After two successful conferences, JBBBS’ Vice President of Programs and Services Lisa G. Cohen, LICSW hopes that this will become not only an annual event, but a means for practioners to share ideas, “After receiving such positive feedback, we hope that participants will remain in touch with our agency and together we can work to best facilitate and promote resilience in children.”

 

The conference was subsidized by the Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters Judge Lewis Goldberg Endowment for Educational Programs.