Archive for May, 2011

Signe provides training nationwide for professionals and parents on topics related to child and adolescent mental and behavioral health.  To arrange a customized workshop on any of the topics below, please contact Signe at Signe@SigneWhitson.com:

Friendship & Other Weapons: Activities to Help Young Girls Cope with Bullying

Friendship & Other Weapons seminars are based on the 12-session curriclum, written for parents and professionals living and working with elementary school-aged girls.  Customized training provides information, strategies, and activity ideas for giving young girls the knowledge and skills to effectively manage bullying.  
Mother-Daughter Seminars
Parents often struggle with the question of, “Should I intervene in my daughter’s friendship problems?”  The line between helicopter and hands-off parenting can get confusing, as adults waver between wanting to protect their daughters from any kind of hurt and believing that girl fighting is an inevitable rite of passage. 
Mother-daughter seminars based on Friendship & Other Weapons  bring moms and girls together to address such topics as improving communication, building self-esteem, and learning skills for coping with bullying.  Girls gain from learning how to talk about the nature of girl bullying and friendship challenges with their parents while Moms benefit from learning the red flags of relational aggression (aka girl bullying,) in today’s social media landscape.   Mother-daughter workshops help open the lines of communication and foster trusting relationships between parents and children.

For more information about the Friendship & Other Weapons curriculum or to arrange a Mother-Daughter workshop in your area, please contact Signe at Signe@SigneWhitson.com 

Life Space Crisis Intervention Certification Training

Life Space Crisis Intervention (LSCI) is an interactive therapeutic strategy for turning crisis situations into learning opportunities for children and youth with chronic patterns of self-defeating behaviors. This non-physical intervention program uses a multi-theoretical approach to behavior management and problem solving. LSCI provides educators, social workers, psychologists, counselors, and youth care professionals with advanced skills for teaching and creating positive relationships with youth who:

Act out in stress toward unsuspecting helpers, sparking explosive and endless power struggles
Make poor decisions based on distorted thought patterns and perceptual errors
Have the right intentions and motivation but lack the social skills to be successful
Are purposefully aggressive and exploitive with little conscience
Act in self-damaging ways due to being burdened with shame and inadequacy
Become entangled in destructive peer relationships and are vulnerable to manipulation

LSCI Certification offers 30 CEU’s for licensed social workers and professional counselors in most states.  Graduate credits can also be obtained for successful completion of the course.  Please contact Signe for full details.

For more information or to arrange an LSCI Certification training for your school, organization, or workplace, please contact Signe at Signe@SigneWhitson.com or visit www.lsci.org for a National Training Site in your area.

Life Space Crisis Intervention Refresher Training                             (for already-certified LSCI practitioners)

The LSCI Refresher Course is designed for those who have successfully completed the certification course.  The 1-day workshop provides a forum for review and practice of critical LSCI skills and discussion about implementing LSCI in the real-world.  Participants are given extensive opportunities to role play and diagnose LSCI crisis situations.

The LSCI Refresher offers 6 CEU’s for licensed social workers and professional counselors in most states. Please contact Signe for full details.

For more information or to arrange an LSCI Refresher training for your school, organization, or workplace, please contact Signe at Signe@SigneWhitson.com or visit www.lsci.org for a National Training Site in your area.

The Angry Smile:  Effectively Managing Passive Aggressive Behavior

The Angry Smile course is designed for anyone who lives, works, or interacts with a passive aggressive person and wants to better understand and manage the often-troubling dynamics.  The 1-day workshop takes an in-depth look at the roots of passive aggressive behavior in children, exploring masked anger at five distinct and increasingly pathological levels.

The Angry Smile training features the Passive Aggressive Conflict Cycle as well as eight specific skills for responding effectively to passive aggressive behavior.  The course trains participants in a six-step process for confronting and changing passive aggressive behaviors in the long-term, using extensive discussion, video examples, and role play.

Signe Whitson is the co-author of The Angry Smile: The Psychology of Passive Aggressive Behavior in Families, Schools, and Workplaces, 2nd ed.

The Angry Smile course offers 6 CEU’s for licensed social workers and professional counselors in most states.  Contact Signe for details.

For more information or to arrange an Angry Smile training for your school, organization, or workplace, please contact Signe at Signe@SigneWhitson.com 

 
How to Be Angry: An Assertive Anger Expression Skills Workshop

How to Be Angry workshops are based on the 15-session social-emotioal currculum, written for provide parents, professionals, and kids ages 5-18.  Individualized full and half-day workshops provide participants with knowledge, skills, and activity ideas for helping kids and teens develop anger management and assertive emotional expression skills.  
Parent-Child Seminars
An ideal way to experience a How to Be Angry workshop is to attend with your son or daughter.  Using engaging activities, games, and discussion, parents learn critical skills for role modelng assertive anger expression and receiving their child’s anger effectively while kids learn specific skills, including:
• Standing Up to Bullies
• Disagreeing without Arguing
• Making and Refusing Requests
• Responding to Anger
• Finding Win-Win Solutions
Parents and kids alike benefit from improved understanding of personal anger atyles (aggression, passive Aggression and passivity) and knowing how to replacing self-defeating patterns with relationship-enhancing assertive communication.
For information on bringing How to Be Angry workshops to your school or organization, please contact Signe via e-mail at Signe@SigneWhitson.com

Please check out the links below to read my articles published on the following topics:

Bullying:

Empathy for the Bully?

Keeping Bullies at Bay: Assertive Communication Skills for Kids

This Too Shall Pass: What Parents Need to Know to Protect Their Kids from Bullying

Sticks and Stones: 3 Top Book Picks for Teaching Kids the Power of Words

Little Girls Can be Mean: A Book Review

Assertive Anger Expression for Children & Teens:

Teaching Assertive Anger Expression to Kids

On the Receiving End: Teaching Kids to Respond Well to Anger

Managing Passive Aggressive Behavior:

Three Steps for Improving Communication with a Passive Aggressive Partner

Three Strategies for Responding to a Passive Aggressive Spouse

Arguments at Chore Time: 4 Steps for Effectively Confronting Your Child’s Passive Aggressive Behavior

Passive Aggression: 5 Reasons This Behavior Happens at Work

Fine. Whatever. 7 Passive Aggressive Phrases to Watch Out For

10 Common Passive Aggressive Phrases to Avoid

Being a Mom:

A Role Model of Imperfection

4 Rules for Cell Phone Use by Kids

Are You Two at it Again? Why Sibling Rivalry Can Be Good for Kids

Handling Sibling Rivalry: Fairness vs. Equality

There Goes Mom of the Year: A Lesson on Personal Responsibility

What Your Children Will Teach You

Use It Or Lose It: How My Daughter’s Closet Reminds Me to Live in the Moment

The Food-Mood Connection

For Richer or For Poorer: Making Contradictions Work for a Successful Marriage

Parenting and Child Development:

From Perfection to Personal Bests: 7 Ways to Nurture Your Gifted Children

Very Funny! Why Sarcasm is No Laughing Matter for Kids

The Baby and the Butterfly

Praise for Praise: Building Your Child’s Self-Esteem

What Is A Friend? A Brainstorming Exercise for Kids

Helping Kids Cope with Change

All I Ever Needed to Know About Negotiation, I Learned From Silly Bandz

Getting Ready for Kindergarten

Top Reasons to Involve Your Kids in Sports

Please Listen.

Family Traditions, Activities and Crafts

Collections Contained: Helping Your Little Saver Preserve Precious Memories

Eating Ice Cream Blindly

Beating the Heat: Indoor Play Ideas for Your Creative Kid

Saving Summer

How Did You Spend Your Summer? Making Charitable Memories with Children

Make Your Own Book Kits for Budding Writers

10 Ways to Spend a Snow Day

Clean Enough: Keeping the Focus on Family During Holiday Guest Preparations

Please also visit me on the Bloggers pages at Psychology Today Online!