Kelli Parcher, John Choi and Kim Parker presented at the 2018 International Child and Youth Care Conference (CYCABC) in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. This year’s theme was Relational Practice where workshops shared information from a variety of perspectives and cultures. The PREPSEC International team held a 3 hour workshop entitled “Relationship: A way to PREPARE”
As Dr. Larry K. Brendtro, describes in the preface to the new Prepare Curriculum books:
“Dr Arnold Goldstein believed that respectful relationships were the foundation of all successful helping encounters. His research showed that it was just as important to enhance the attractiveness of the helper as to try to change the helpee: a “person-environment duet”. He realized that if we are to meet the needs of those we serve, strategies need to be prescriptive in nature. The PREPARE Curriculum provided the additional resources to assist change agents.”
We, therefore, animated an interactive presentation, introducing a variety of the Social Emotional Competencies in the PREPARE Curriculum. Beginning with Empathy Training, we then showed how the other programs can reinforce empathic skill sets through the use of Skillstreaming, Anger Control, Moral Reasoning, Character Education, Social Perception Training, Problem Solving and their transfer to the family in Family TIES. These interventions were shown to be compatible to education, corrections, and community environments and take into consideration both the individual and global interactions of a youth’s environment.
We also shared our experience of how PREPARE dovetails into other programs, such as Restorative Justice, the Circle of Courage and Connecting to Kids, all ways to improve the person-environment duet.