I am a searcher... I always was... and I still am... searching for the missing piece.

—Louise Bourgeois

June 2014 Workshops for Kids & Tweens

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Children’s Adoptee Workshop: This workshop is dedicated to children who are developmentally ready to comprehend abstract concepts; that may include a deeper awareness of being adopted, loss of first parents/culture, and awareness of race and other differences. Session content will include projects with a goal to helping a child identify differences, empower a child when confronted by intrusive questions or comments, to connect with their adopted identities, and begin to create their own narrative.

Be.Tween Adoptee Workshop: This workshop seeks to support your adopted child’s development as they address the themes of teenhood.  Tweens are on the cusp of exploring independence as they become more autonomous and learn to make healthy decisions.  Being adopted adds another layer to one’s developmental process. This workshop will utilize creative projects to encourage dialogue and discussion, and facilitate enhancement of self-esteem, self-awareness and identity development. Our projects are geared toward helping your tween to identify and conceptualize his/her own narrative of experience.

Age-appropriate themes we will cover in the workshops include social skills & challenges, transracial family concerns, body image, substance abuse/self-harm, grief and loss, living in the digital world, and stress management

Each workshop is comprised of TWO SUNDAY SESSIONS IN JUNE

1pm to 5pm

@ A Place to Create 3137 Glendale Blvd., LA 90039

    Kids: 7 – 9 years   June 8 & June 22

Tweens: 10 – 12 years  June 15 and June 29

Registration is limited to provide personalized attention. The kids workshop is geared to 7 – 9, though there may be a 10 year-old who may feel more comfortable in the kids group.… Read the rest “June 2014 Workshops for Kids & Tweens”

What’s in a Name?

Read Laura Laura TrombleySkandera Trombley’s eloquent piece on the lifelong struggle of coming to terms with one’s identity. Skandera Trombley, president of Pitzer College, opines on themes that she’s navigated personally and professionally:

“For most of my life, I have felt as though I am a historical blank, wandering in an epistemological wilderness, since many distinguishing aspects of my past and origin were unknown. That blankness has been reinforced over the years by assumptions made on the basis of my physical appearance.”
http://chronicle.com/article/What-s-in-a-Name-/145391/… Read the rest “What’s in a Name?”

Support UCLA China Care Bruins

Come support the 6th Annual China Care Bruins Awareness Night
April 9, 2014         6 – 9pm
Ackerman Auditorium at UCLA

Since 2005, China Care Bruins UCLA college students have provided a unique experience of mentorship for Asian adoptee children/and tweens at UCLA, and raise funds for special needs surgeries in China’s orphanages.

This year’s Awareness Night Fundraiser will include a lively program of musical performances, and a brief panel discussion on identity development with CCB student mentors who are also  transracial adoptees that I’ll moderate. If you are able to come out and see the Next Generation in action, check it! If not, please consider a donation by clicking here that will help fund Half The Sky Foundation’s efforts to provide lifesaving surgeries for orphans in China.

… Read the rest “Support UCLA China Care Bruins”