Support Groups

Surviving and Thriving after the Diagnosis: Finding balance and moving forward

When your child is diagnosed with autism, you can feel as if you’ve lost your bearings. You are dealing with difficult emotions while you are trying to figure out what is best for your child. The Surviving and Thriving workshop helps you navigate this uncharted territory by providing you with a “compass,” five essential tools and mindfulness exercises to help you not only survive, but thrive in your daily life. In this workshop, you will be able to connect and share your stories with wisdom with other parents who can “get” where you are coming from.

Topics include:

• Finding direction in the wilderness: The nine-point compass for moving from surviving to thriving
• Dealing with difficult emotions and holding on to yourself during the big and small disasters
• Seeing your child and yourself from a place of balance
• Making space for what is essential
• Parenting from your best self
• Moving forward with trust

Parenting Your Older Child: Focusing on strengths, building connections

As your child grows into adolescence and beyond, you face new challenges and new opportunities. This workshop helps you share your stories, struggles and wisdom with other parents. Each session gives you tools for finding balance and strategies for seeing yourself and your child from a place of possibility.

Topics will include:

• New challenge and new possibilities: Your child as an adolescent or young adult.
• The emotional roller-coaster of parenting your older child
• Thinking outside the box: Being curious about your child’s potentials and strengths
• Keeping your balance during disasters big and small
• New frontiers in advocating for your child: Holding your ground, learning from everyone
• Creating connections: building a network of community and caring around your child

Grandparents Surviving and Thriving

Being a grandparent of a child on the autism spectrum comes with its own special challenges. How can you best support your child? What are ways to engage your grandchild? This workshop, led by a psychotherapist who has a child on the autism spectrum, offers you the opportunity to talk about these issues with other grandparents, and get some support, ideas and inspiration.

For more information, send me an email at Sonia Voynow or call me at 215-247-5832.