Amity Kids
Proposal for Amity Kids
Our Mission:
Amity Kids seeks to provide sliding scale counseling and psychological services for children who have experienced divorce or parental separation. By meeting the specific needs of as many children as possible, we aim to create healthier families and healthier communities.
Our Vision:
With the divorce rate at 50% and climbing, there are over one million children per year who experience the breakdown of their families. This is an emotionally traumatic experience for many children which undermines children’s feelings of safety, security and stability. The deterioration of a child’s most fundamental relationships touches all subsequent relationships for better or worse. Without the benefit of a therapeutic process a child’s relationship skills may be damaged severely. We believe that it is relationships that build communities, create successful careers and cultivate happiness. By tending to the emotional and psychological needs of the children through individual and group therapy and assisting parents to decrease the hostility and conflict to which the children are exposed, Amity Kids endeavors to erase trauma from the experience of divorce and teach the skills necessary to relate to the world around us healthfully and unimpaired .
Our Strategy:
Research demonstrates that there are three basic goals to achieve when working with kids of divorced and separated families:
To address the above goals, Amity Kids will provide ongoing, individual therapy with a licensed or supervised therapist in order to create a safe, open environment belonging solely to that child. The children will also participate in regular group sessions that are aimed at normalizing divorce, developing cohesion among peers that share in this experience, and the development and practice of social skills.
For the parents we will provide a limited number of sessions, information on how to help maximize their child’s experience with Amity Kids and referrals to other organizations, such as Kids Turn, public and private mediation services, as well as individual and group therapy resources.
An internship program that offers post doctoral students their needed supervised hours will be implemented to help provide enough trained specialists at a low cost and to provide training in this field..
Phase II
Out of the establishment of Phase I we plan to develop a relationship curriculum that teaches non-violent communication and conflict resolution skills to be implemented into private and/or public schools. With such a high number of binuclear and dual-income households, it cannot be assumed that children are learning these skills at home. Beginning this curriculum in kindergarten and continuing it through high school with increasingly more sophisticated concepts, students will be more prepared for all types of relationships including marriage and parenthood.
Our Mission:
Amity Kids seeks to provide sliding scale counseling and psychological services for children who have experienced divorce or parental separation. By meeting the specific needs of as many children as possible, we aim to create healthier families and healthier communities.
Our Vision:
With the divorce rate at 50% and climbing, there are over one million children per year who experience the breakdown of their families. This is an emotionally traumatic experience for many children which undermines children’s feelings of safety, security and stability. The deterioration of a child’s most fundamental relationships touches all subsequent relationships for better or worse. Without the benefit of a therapeutic process a child’s relationship skills may be damaged severely. We believe that it is relationships that build communities, create successful careers and cultivate happiness. By tending to the emotional and psychological needs of the children through individual and group therapy and assisting parents to decrease the hostility and conflict to which the children are exposed, Amity Kids endeavors to erase trauma from the experience of divorce and teach the skills necessary to relate to the world around us healthfully and unimpaired .
Our Strategy:
Research demonstrates that there are three basic goals to achieve when working with kids of divorced and separated families:
- To provide the opportunity to discuss thoughts and feelings and to voice their concerns
- To normalize divorce as a common experience that they share with other kids
- To assist in developing an appropriate understanding of their position in the process of divorce and to develop coping skills to aid in their adjustment.
- Resolve parental conflict
- Disengage children from parental disputes
- Establish a primary focus on the children’s needs
- Relate and parent the child in new ways.
To address the above goals, Amity Kids will provide ongoing, individual therapy with a licensed or supervised therapist in order to create a safe, open environment belonging solely to that child. The children will also participate in regular group sessions that are aimed at normalizing divorce, developing cohesion among peers that share in this experience, and the development and practice of social skills.
For the parents we will provide a limited number of sessions, information on how to help maximize their child’s experience with Amity Kids and referrals to other organizations, such as Kids Turn, public and private mediation services, as well as individual and group therapy resources.
An internship program that offers post doctoral students their needed supervised hours will be implemented to help provide enough trained specialists at a low cost and to provide training in this field..
Phase II
Out of the establishment of Phase I we plan to develop a relationship curriculum that teaches non-violent communication and conflict resolution skills to be implemented into private and/or public schools. With such a high number of binuclear and dual-income households, it cannot be assumed that children are learning these skills at home. Beginning this curriculum in kindergarten and continuing it through high school with increasingly more sophisticated concepts, students will be more prepared for all types of relationships including marriage and parenthood.
