Fall 2021: Letter from the Director
Happy Fall (for some of you, an in-person Fall!) from The Center for Family Well-Being
Despite a summer in which we all continued to ride the up-and-down waves of the pandemic, we’re hoping you were able to have some relaxed and restorative time with friends and family.
As many of you know, we’ve been busy welcoming you back with some in-person sessions—albeit masked, social-distanced, and with lots of air purifiers! While we all—therapists and clients alike—navigated an initial charge in our nervous systems as we re-opened our doors, the overwhelming feedback has been positive. Many of you have shared how much it’s meant for you—and, for the parents among you, your kids and teens—to be back together again, even in a limited way. We’re so grateful.
And please rest assured that we’re following both CDC and DC guidelines to keep you, and our therapists, safe. For those of you who aren’t ready to meet up indoors quite yet, we’ve got your back: we still have our outdoor “living room” behind the Center for individual and “In Tune” group sessions and will continue to offer walk-and-talk and virtual options as well.
Here at the Center, our passion is individualized, holistic, integrative, and collaborative care for the optimal well-being of our clients and families. The words “holistic,” “well-being,” and “integrative” get tossed about often these days in wellness spaces, occasionally with some odd bedfellows—so I want to take a moment here to share directly what these words mean for us at the Center.
“Holistic” means we work with the whole person. We don’t view our clients—child, teen, or adult—as simply individual parts; we take the time to understand the big picture. “Well-being” has multiple dimensions for us at the Center—biological, psychological, social, and spiritual—and our aim is to harness the full power of the mind-body connection to achieve well-being on all levels: mind, body, and spirit. For us, this model means happier relationships; increased joy, creativity, and connection with all of life; greater resilience; more capacity for coping and regulating emotions; and better physical health, including sleep and nutrition.
“Integrative” means we respect science, Western psychotherapy, and the deep wisdom of global traditions—both ancient and modern. We intentionally combine our advanced training and specialized skills with the efficacy of mindful awareness-based practices and other mind-body therapies. Several of us at the Center are long-term meditators and yoga, movement, and body-based practitioners. We use the mind-body therapies we recommend. It’s not just talk for us; it’s who we are.
Finally, we’re collaborative—within our team, with our partners in both conventional and mind-body medicine, and with you. That makes for better outcomes for you: We focus not just on what isn’t working, but on what IS working—and we build on that.
One of the therapists who collaborates with you is Liz, and we’re so pleased to highlight her work in this edition of our newsletter. You’ll also hear from her and all of our staff as they share the resources—books, podcasts, films, practices—that they recommend for this time of reentry and readjustment. Next is another edition of “This Moment Matters,” an offering of real-life practical support; this season, we’re sharing a tool from our ongoing study of Polyvagal Theory. Finally, back-to-school means a new cycle of groups here at the Center, and we’re really pleased to announce our lineup for the 2021-2022 school year.
We thank you for taking the time to read this newsletter; as ever, we welcome your feedback. And do feel free to share this publication with others who you think might like to learn about our Center.
With a grateful heart,
Kate Kelly, Director
On behalf of all of us at The Center for Family Well-Being