Focus on the Family

2007-03-15 Posted at 03:55:57 PM

	BEEWINS FOCUS ON THE FAMILY There are many ideas about what makes a good parent.  These essays will be devoted more to my life experience than to the usual ideas and theories found in published literature.  Most professional literature is designed to make money for the writer. Those ideas are based on what is considered the correct way to do things as a parent, grandparent, partner (married or live-in), sibling other family member. This blog will focus on a wholistic view woven from the web of my life experience.  I have professional credentials as a marriage and family therapist.  My life journey has been spent as school teacher (sciences grades 1-12).  I hold a life teaching certificate in the state of Missouri.  I also have a PhD in Marriage & Family Therapy, and Family Life Education. I will begin with information about the assumptions made by people in western (especially the USA) societies about life. These ideas are taught to us from the time we are born and become part of our belief system.  It is difficult, if not impossible, to see outside this framework.  Our beliefs are designed to keep us sane...in other words, we construct beliefs that will help us cope with our life situation.  It is important that we accept the fact that everyone sees life from his/her own point of view.  Our point of view emerges from our life experiences.  Our family upbringing lays the base for our beliefs. The groundwork for this belief system begins in the womb, long before we are capable of verbalizing anything.  The life experiences our mother has during pregnancy influence this groundwork.  Her body chemistry is influenced by her emotional support system and by the ways she cares for herself physically. This is the context in which a baby develops.  Other people and situations in her life contribute to the babys' environmental experiences.  So baby is influenced by every interaction mother has with others during gestation.  This means that the development of a child is very complex and cannot be seen as the responsiblility of any individual alone.  Influence is like a nested set of Russian dolls, each stacked one above another.  No one person has total responsibility for the child's development. And no individual can claim responsibility for the welfare and nurturing of a child. In other words, as Hillary Clinton wrote, "it takes a village to raise a child."	Elizabeth (Bee) Brewer, Ph.D. Bees Winning Enterprises,  LLC I am a retired Marriage & Family Therapist Past President of Missouri Association for Marriage & Family Therapy

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