Welcome to the Center for Mindful Families.
The Center was created in order to provide exceptional and effective wellness services to families in Palm Beach county. As Licensed Clinical Social Workers and Mental Health Counselors with extensive training in a variety of evidenced-based interventions, we help families navigate the challenges of twenty-first century life. I recognized that people need a safe and accepting environment where they can learn about themselves and their relationships in order to succeed at identifying and addressing the underlying causes of suffering. I also recognized that parents often need new tools to help them create more balance and consistency in their family lives. We created the Center for Mindful Families to address these needs.
I envisioned our Center as a place where individuals and families can gather for support and guidance, but also where they can find their own center, the foundation where healing takes place. I chose to include “mindful” in our name because mindfulness can be a complimentary ingredient in therapy, a tool for therapists and clients alike. Mindfulness is a practice with a wide variety of benefits and documented results for difficulties including anxiety, chronic pain, depression, substance abuse and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Elements of mindfulness can be customized to fit any therapeutic approach to best serve the specific needs of individuals and families.
Throughout our community, there is a strong demand for expertise in Infant Mental Health and difficulties affecting LGBTQ youth and teens. While Infant Mental Health (an area which covers pregnant women and children aged 0 to 5) is a critical period in a child development, the adolescent and teen years are critical for identity development and self-esteem. And being an LGBTQ youth comes with unique challenges, so children and teenagers often need support in addition to that of those needed for the typical ups and downs of growing up in our society. As the need for quality therapy services becomes more apparent, we are pleased to be one of only a few clinicians in Palm Beach County that are qualified to work with both of these populations.
Our guiding principle is that healing occurs within a relationship and we emphasize the importance of relationships as a vital mechanism for change in a non-judgmental, strength-based environment. Perhaps most importantly, we believe in the power of play. Play therapy is the best way for children and adolescents make sense of their world, build and maintain a positive sense of self and adjust challenging behaviors in a developmentally appropriate way.
Tara
Mindfulness
[mahynd-fuh l-nis]
1. the state or quality of being mindful or aware of something.
2. Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us.
3. Psychology.
a. a technique in which one focuses one's full attention only on the present, experiencing thoughts, feelings, and sensations but not judging them: The practice of mindfulness can reduce stress and physical pain.
b. the mental state maintained by the use of this technique.
Why I Chose the Mandala as Our Symbol
The word mandala is a Sanskrit term which loosely translates as "circle." It is
symbolic of our connection with one another and the earth. It is an integrated
structure organized around a unifying center, creating unity. A mandala represents
wholeness and appears in all aspects of life—in the earth, sun, and moon, as well
as conceptual circles of friends, family, and community.
According to Bailey Cunningham in Mandala: Journey to the Center, "the
integrated view of the world represented by the mandala, while long embraced
by some Eastern religions, has now begun to emerge in Western religious
and secular cultures. Awareness of the mandala may have the potential of
changing how we see ourselves, our planet, and perhaps even our own life purpose."
The mandala pattern is used in many religious traditions. For centuries, Christian nuns created mandalas to express their visions and beliefs. Native American Indians have created medicine wheels and sand mandalas. The circular Aztec calendar was both a timekeeping device and a religious expression of ancient Aztecs. In Asia, the Taoist yin-yang symbol represents opposition as well as interdependence. Tibetan mandalas are often highly intricate illustrations of religious significance that are used for meditation.
Representing the universe itself, a mandala is both the microcosm and the macrocosm, and we are all part of its intricate design. The mandala is more than an image seen with our eyes; it is an actual moment in time. It can be can be used as a vehicle to explore art, science, religion and life itself. The mandala contains an encyclopedia of the finite and a road map to infinity.
Carl Jung said that a mandala symbolizes "a safe refuge of inner reconciliation and wholeness." It is "a synthesis of distinctive elements in a unified scheme representing the basic nature of existence."
Information was excerpted from www.TheMandalaProject.org.
“Play is a child’s work and this is not a trivial pursuit”
--Alfred Adler