Strength Training

August 2019 eNewsletter

Posted on August 23, 2019

This is an email sent to staff by Sue Williams, the Program Director for Sioux Falls Children's Home. It sheds light on a key component of the CHS residential treatment philosophy.

In light of yet more senseless shootings in our nation, I want to highlight The Six Core Strengths we are trying to instill in children who have suffered trauma. These come from an amazing man--Bruce Perry, MD, PhD--who has dedicated his professional life to studying and treating children who have endured abuse, neglect, exploitation, abandonment, parental chemical dependency, family violence...and the list continues.

Dr. Perry says we can diminish violence if we focus on the following CORE STRENGTHS when working with children:

Attachment: The ability to make emotional connections to fellow human beings

Self-Regulation: The ability to think before acting

Affiliation: The ability to join in and belong to something

Attunement: The ability to think about fellow human beings

Tolerance: The ability to accept differences

Respect: The ability to value both self and others

It's likely each of us holds strong opinions about potential solutions to this problem. Working hard to teach kids these CORE STRENGTHS is a way we might contribute to a solution. Equally important, we will be contributing to inner peace and outer decency in the children we serve at CHS.

Sue's email message also offers hope, and a course of action for anyone who may feel powerless to effect change on a larger scale. We can ALL begin with ourselves, our own children and families, and our communities. There is strength in numbers.