NFRC serves family members, ages 6 through adulthood each year through comprehensive support groups designed to help children, young adults, adult children of divorce, men and women better understand their feelings and give voice to their emotions in healthy ways as a critical foundation for the healing process.
NFRC’s Support Groups for Children and Young Adults consist of nine to 12 weekly sessions and two additional multiple family sessions which include parents and significant others. Groups are offered twice a year typically beginning in October and March. Each group includes approximately 10 participants, with group discussion and activities led by professional therapists and, when appropriate, NFRC-trained peer counselors.
FIND THE RIGHT GROUP FOR YOU
Activities and topics for discussion are selected based upon assessment of the children's needs. A number of activities have been developed to help children identify helpful and non-helpful patterns of behavior in expressing feelings and dealing with problems, including:
• Reading stories, looking at pictures, and drawing
• Role playing with children and adults
• Putting on plays with puppets and stuffed animals
• Reading stories, looking at pictures, and drawing
• Role playing with children and adults
• Putting on plays with puppets and stuffed animals
Offered for children in third through fifth grade, therapists draw upon a wide variety of techniques to meet the unique needs of each child in encouraging them to share their feelings. Techniques include:
• Group discussion
• Stories
• Games
• Art
• Role playing
• Light homework assignments
• Group discussion
• Stories
• Games
• Art
• Role playing
• Light homework assignments
The middle school groups for preadolescent boys and girls, ages 11-13, focus on shared concerns of preadolescents typically lead to discussion about peer relationships, changing schools, and school performance. Techniques include:
• Group discussion
• Creative expressions such as poems, music, or art
• Interviewing parents to examine their relationship from the time they met to their decision to separate and divorce.
• Group discussion
• Creative expressions such as poems, music, or art
• Interviewing parents to examine their relationship from the time they met to their decision to separate and divorce.
Teenagers 14-18 years pf age are invited to join the high school group. In this program, activities and topics for discussion are selected based on the developmental needs of teenagers, who are more independent and have more support systems outside the home, but may have difficulties expressing themselves and sharing feelings of insecurity. Techniques include:
• Group discussion
• Role playing
• Creative expressions such as poems, songs, or art
• Group discussion
• Role playing
• Creative expressions such as poems, songs, or art
The individual Men’s and Women’s Support Groups present a great opportunity for men and women experiencing a family transition to share their experiences and receive support from one another through mutual understanding and with the guidance of professional therapists.
Each group includes eight to ten weekly sessions for men and eight to ten weekly sessions for women. Each session lasts 1 1/2 hours, and includes six to eight participants per group, as well as a peer counselor and one therapist.
Each group includes eight to ten weekly sessions for men and eight to ten weekly sessions for women. Each session lasts 1 1/2 hours, and includes six to eight participants per group, as well as a peer counselor and one therapist.
NFRC would like to help you find the best program for your child. If you are interested in having your child attend a support group at the NFRC location in Columbia please complete the form below: