CCFFamilyDay
On 23 April 2016, 16 CCF beneficiaries and their families
gathered at Institute of Technical Education (ITE) Central
toattend theannual CCFFamilyDay. This special daywas
set aside for families to spend quality time together and
for them to be acquainted with other CCF families. The
theme of the event was ‘WeAreAll InThis Together’ which
centered on strengthening the love and bonds between
familymembers.
Play: It’s for Parents
Too! –CreatingaSafe
Environment for Play
In the second of this four-part series on the topic of
‘Play’, CCF’s certified Play Therapist, Joanne Ng,
shares on the techniques of limit-setting topromote
positivebehaviour in your child.
The objective of setting limits is to help the child
to feel safe. When parents do not set good limits
for their child, the childmay feel anxious, insecure
and out of control with their feelings. In fact, the
childmay even push the caregiver to set limits by
escalating their negative behaviour.
During Filial Play coaching sessions, a three-step
approach to limit-setting called ‘
ACT
’ is taught
to parents to help the child develop the ability to
make decisions and be more responsible for his/
her actions.
Imagine a child, John, who is screaming in
the kitchen because he does not get his way.
Using the
ACT
approach to setting limits, a
caregiver should:
A
cknowledge
the child’s feelingor desire (e.g.
John, I know you are feeling angry and you
need to scream.)
C
ommunicate
the limit briefly but clearly and
specifically (e.g. But the kitchen is not for
screaming.)
T
arget
acceptable alternatives (e.g. You can
scream in your room.)
Punishment for undesiredbehaviour shouldonlybe
used when the child continues with the proscribed
behaviour. The child should be informed that
the punishment is the result of his/her decision
(e.g. John, since you have chosen to continue
screaming in the kitchen, you will not be permitted
to watch television today) and he/she has to take
responsibility for it.The important phrase, of course,
is “sinceyouhavechosen...” aswewant thechild to
take responsibility for his/her choice.
One of the most important aspects of limit-setting
is consistency. If limits are not set consistently,
undesirable behaviours will persist because the
child recognises that there are concessions.
Ultimately, the goal of ACT is to avoid punitive
measures but instead to focus on improvements in
helping the child tomanage his/her behaviour in a
supportive andnon-critical manner.
For enquiries or to schedule an appointment with
ourPlayTherapist, pleasecontact your caseworker.
Thedaystartedwitha roundof ice-breakers for participants
to warm up to each other. This was followed by a mission
to complete five station games where the families had
to compete for the grand prize! Each station game was
designed to teach the families teamwork, different types
of love languages, the importance of staying united,
appreciatingdifferent roles ina familyandgrowing together
as a family. The day endedwith a prize presentationwhere
thewinnerswalked homewith fabulous prizes!
It was evident that everyone truly enjoyed their Saturday
spent together as they reminisced the day’s activities over
and over again. The participants also found it especially
meaningful to simply take time out and have fun with their
families. It was heartening to know that many of themwere
now confident in facing challenges as they knew that their
families would be behind them. It is our hope that all our
beneficiaries and their families will continue to grow and
emerge stronger nomatter what comes their way.
CCF would like to extend our appreciation to the event
volunteers Pei Jia, Felise, Linda, Jacqueline, Zen, Cerlyn,
Arthur, Yoke Kong, Chun Xian, Lay Eng, Weilun, Jazreel
andSuichen for contributing to the success of this event.
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