“For the Sake of Our Children”…

Positive Jewish Parenting
Building Family Resilience with Our Children

Enjoy an Evening of Useful Ideas, Suggestions and Discussions from Leading Experts in the Field and in our Community

Motzoei Shabbos Saturday Evening - February 4, 2006
7:00pm –11:00pm
Keynote begins promptly at 7:30pm
Location: Associated Talmud Torahs of Chicago

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KEYNOTE ADDRESS Rabbi Isaac Mayefsky Memorial Keynote Address: Transmitting the Mesorah: Strengthening a Loving Relationship with Our Children

The following workshops will be presented at 8:30 p.m. and repeated at 9:40 p.m.

Motivating Our Children by Emphasizing Their Success: Lessons Learned From the Shabbos Table
Rabbi Dr. Yehuda Krohn

This presentation will provide parents with a number of unique motivational tools. Parents will learn essential differences between playing the more passive role of spectator and the more active role of witness to their children’s successes. Parents will also learn how to identify and effectively respond to the positive intentions that are hidden within their children’s misbehavior. The presentation will be anchored with numerous practical examples including two activities found at the Shabbos table- the one (often) a source of pain; the other (potentially) a source of joy.

Nurturing an Environment of Joy in Your Home and Your Life
Rabbi Dr. Jerry Lob

The class will focus on developing three aspects of happiness; in life, in self, and in Judaism.

Developing and Strengthening Positive Self-Esteem in our Children and Ourselves
Rabbi Yisroel Roll, MS, LL.B.

Participants will learn hands-on techniques to achieve self awareness, identity formation and goal setting – all of which are prerequisites to developing our own self esteem. Once we can identify them in ourselves, we can then proceed to help our children do the same. The best way to develop selfesteem in our children is to have it ourselves. Then we will learn the practical ways to enhance the feelings of worth, self efficacy and competence in our children so they can maximize their potential.

Children’s Adjustments to Family Changes: A Guide to Cultivating Resiliency
Lynn Shyman, LCSW

Children experience many changes and transitions within the family. Parents can help their children navigate those changes in a healthy and adaptive manner through a clear understanding of their children’s behaviors and emotions that arise during a time of crisis.

Single Parenting: A Woman’s Perspective
Breena Freid, LCSW

This workshop, designed for single mothers only, will focus on the issues commonly faced by single parents. Topics covered will include parenting time, vacation scheduling, Yomim Tovim, expectations, communication with the other parent, and helping children adjust to living in two different households. The importance of self care will also be stressed.

Single Parenting: A Man’s Perspective
Dr. Jeffrey Gersten

This workshop, designed for single fathers only, will focus on cultivating a special relationship with your child as well as issues commonly faced by single parents. Topics covered will include parenting time, vacation scheduling, Yomim Tovim, expectations, communication with the other parent, and helping children adjust to living in two different households. The importance of self care will also be stressed.

Responding to A Child’s Anger: “Now What Do I Do?”
Hadassah Goodman, LCSW, ACSW

Understanding the angry communications of children, from pre-school through pre-adolescence, is always a challenge. This workshop will focus on effective parental responses to these outbursts of anger. Mrs. Goodman will define and differentiate between impulsivity, chutzpa, power struggles, acting out and out of control behavior, and she will present important tools for responding sensitively.

The Art of Fathering: Making the Relationship Truly Special!
Dr. Jeffrey Gersten

This workshop will emphasize the importance of the father-child bond in fostering healthy self esteem in children and for maintaining family stability. Practical ways in which fathers can build closer emotional connections with their children will be discussed, while balancing time in the overall context of the family and multiple life demands. Practical tips will be provided for strengthening skills in creating that truly special relationship.

Conversations with Our Children about Their Bodies’ Development
(this session is open to women only)
Hadassah Goodman, LCSW, ACSW

Healthy discussions between parents and children about the body’s development can enhance a child’s self esteem, prevent at-risk behavior, and foster a meaningful parent-child relationship. This workshop will focus on the developmental changes from pre-school through puberty, for boys and girls, with practical guidelines for parents.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF PRESENTERS

KEYNOTE: Dr. Nosson Westreich
Dr. Westreich, a child and adolescent psychiatrist, is an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto Medical School. He is on staff at Sunnybrook & Women’s College Health Sciences Centre, where he directs the Inpatient Adolescent Regional Psychiatric Unit and teaches both medical students and residents. He has received numerous awards for his teaching. Dr. Westreich received his medical degree from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. He holds a Masters of Education from Loyola University and Rabbinical Ordination from the Ner Israel Rabbinical College of Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. Westreich has authored professional articles and is a noted speaker for medical, civic and Jewish organizations internationally. With his wide array of professional, educational, and community-based experiences, Dr. Westreich offers a unique and contemporary perspective on the challenging issues confronting today’s Jewish Community.

Breena Freid, LCSW
Mrs. Freid is a clinician for the Jewish Children’s Bureau and is their Coordinator of Services to the Orthodox Jewish Community. She consults and does training for teachers and principals in pre-schools, elementary and high schools and camps. Mrs. Freid sees children, individuals, and couples, and has conducted parenting workshops for over 15 years. She received her MSW from the Jane Addams School of Social Work at the University of Illinois.

Jeffrey Gersten, Psy.D.
Dr. Gersten is a graduate of the Illinois School of Professional Psychology. Dr. Gersten has worked in schools, private practice, community mental health settings and hospitals, for more than ten years. Dr. Gersten operates the Gersten Center for Behavioral Health, a private practice serving adults, adolescents, children, families and couples. He is on staff at St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, RUSH North Shore Medical Center in Skokie, and Gottlieb Memorial Hospital in Melrose Park.

Hadassah Goodman, LCSW, ACSW
Mrs. Goodman is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a Supervisor at Jewish Family and Community Services specializing in work with families and children. She consults and does training for teachers and principals in elementary and high schools around issues of behavior management, conflict resolution, anger management, grief and trauma. Mrs. Goodman received her MSW from Loyola University School of Social Work. Mrs. Goodman has extensive experience teaching Taharas Hamishpachah for kallahs and married women.

Rabbi Yehuda Krohn, Psy.D.
Dr. Krohn received his Smicha from Yeshiva of Far Rockaway in NYC and his Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the Illinois School of Professional Psychology. Rabbi Dr. Krohn regularly provides lectures, classes and presentations, within the community, on a variety of topics that relate to Torah, mental health and the intersection of the two. He sees individuals, couples and families in his Lincolnwood private practice.

Rabbi Jerry Lob, Ph.D.
Dr. Lob was ordained at Beth Medrash Govoha, Lakewood, N.J. (1983) and received his doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Illinois School of Professional Psychology (1994). He works in the Jewish community in private practice as a licensed clinical psychologist, and lectures and writes on the topics of marriage, parenting, and Jewish philosophy.

Rabbi Yisroel Roll, MS, LL.B.
Rabbi Roll is a psychotherapist in private practice in Baltimore, MD, specializing in self esteem enhancement. He is the founder of the LIFE Task Force together with Dr. Abraham Twerski, M.D., which promotes self-esteem enhancement at home and at school. Rabbi Roll conducts workshops on Building Children’s Self-Esteem, a teen esteem dynamics workshop and the Self Esteem Diet, A Pathway to Healthy Living. He is a former attorney from Toronto and served as the Rabbi of the new West End Synagogue in London, England where he founded the Encounter outreach organization. He is the author of two books: Inner Peace-Achieving Self Esteem Through Prayer and When the Going Gets Tough.

Lynn Shyman, LCSW
Mrs. Shyman is a Clinical Supervisor at Jewish Children’s Bureau. At JCB, Mrs. Shyman has worked with children and parents and as a consultant to early childhood programs. She has presented workshops to parents and school staff and has presented at professional conferences. Mrs. Shyman is also in private practice working with children and families. She is a family and divorce mediator and is a referring member of the Mediation Council of Illinois.
 

Committee Members:
Debra Cardash, LCSW – ATT
Breena Freid, LCSW – JCB
Hadassah Goodman, LCSW- JFCS
Dr. Yehuda Krohn, Psy.D.
Lynn Shyman, LCSW - JCB

Conference Sponsorship:
Associated Talmud Torahs of Chicago
Mrs. Florence Mayefsky & the Mayefsky Family
Jewish Children’s Bureau
Jewish Family & Community Services
Orthodox Union

National Positive Jewish Parenting Programs of the Department of
Synagogue Services of the Orthodox Union are sponsored in part through
a grant from the Goldstein Family and Parkside Memorial Chapels.

For information on a program in your community, please contact
Frank Buchweitz, Director of Community Services and Special Projects
Orthodox Union • 11 Broadway, New York NY, 10004 • 212-613-8188 FAX 212.613.0667
www.ou.org
 

Positive Jewish Parenting is a national program of the
Department of Community and Synagogue Services of the Orthodox Union

Stephen J. Savitsky, President • Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, Executive Vice President

Positive Jewish Parenting   |   www.ou.org