24th Annual Culture Conference
April 17 & 18, 2015
New Location: Holiday Inn, 4701 Stelton Road,
South Plainfield, NJ 07708
The Multicultural Family Institute
Co-Sponsor:
The Center for Family,
Community & Social Justice, Princeton
Roots & Wings:
Turning Points
in
Transforming
Life Narratives Across
The Life Cycle
The Multicultural Family Institute
328 Denison Street, Highland Park, NJ 08904
(T) 732-565-9010 (F) 732-565-0703
e-mail: multicultural2011@gmail.com
website: www.MulticulturalFamily.org
Roots & Wings: Turning Points
in Transforming Life Narratives Across The Life Cycle
24th Annual Culture Conference: April 17 & 18, 2015
“If individuals and organizations operate from a generative orientationfrom possibility rather than resignation, we can create a future into which
we are living, as opposed to merely reacting to it when we get there. One of
the most important roles we can play individually and collectively is to create
an opening or to “listen” to the implicate order unfolding, and then to create
dreams, visions, and stories that we sense at our center want to happen.”
– Joseph Jaworski
This year’s Culture Conference will explore turning points in the life cycle
when we may transform our life narratives. We search for the resilience and
strengths our clients have to survive and to go beyond survival to creativity for
themselves, each other, their communities and for future generations. We are
extremely happy to welcome back Dr. Rockey Robbins, a psychologist who is
Choctaw and Cherokee and whose interests involve transformational stories of
healing based on traditional American Indian traditions. We are also excited to
welcome back as keynoters many of our network’s most beloved presenters: Froma
Walsh, Salome Raheim, Ken Hardy, Jay King, Matthew Mock and Sam Cruz.
Our conference will continue to challenge the way in which we are pressured
into clinical assessment and intervention that focus on pathologizing narratives.
Systemic work requires transforming such dysfunction-seeking practices
toward more creative, resilience-focused clinical interventions and healing.
This year’s focus will be on turning points in the life cycle that transform
narratives from conflict, cutoff and cynicism toward creativity, connection and
resilience. Our Culture Conference faculty, who come from diverse clinical and
training perspectives all over the country, will once again help us focus in on
expanding our clinical creativity in the search for social justice in our society.
Conference Goal: Expand our clinical understanding of turning points in transforming life narratives
across the life cycle in a context where our cultural history has been so pervaded by the disruption and
trauma of colonization, migration, and the diaspora of so many populations.
12 Clinical, Cultural Competence Contact Hours for the 2-day Conference
Target Audience: LCSWs, LPCs, Psychologists & Other Mental Health Professionals,
Intermediate & Advanced Levels
Learning Objectives for the Conference:
1. To explore the importance of helping clients clarify turning points in their life cycle to develop
transformative narratives
2. To expand participants’ knowledge & awareness of the effect of legacies of oppression on
clients’ sense of belonging.
3. To expand participants ability to creatively help clients reframe their narratives to emphasize
resilience and transformation as an essential part of their cultural and spiritual identity.
4. To expand participants’ understanding of culture in terms of the multiple dimensions of
oppression.
Friday AM - April 17, 2015
8:30
9:00
Musical Prelude: Culture Conference Musicians
Welcome: Nydia Garcia Preto, Monica McGoldrick, Hinda Winawer &
Matthew Mock
9:15
Time, Loss, & the Recovery of Our Ability To Maintain Our Human
Connections
Nydia Garcia Preto, Monica McGoldrick
10:45Break
11:00 Moderator/Introducer: CharlesEtta Sutton
Presenter: Froma Walsh: Transcending Traumatic Losses
12:30 Lunch
Friday PM - April 17, 2015
2:00
Turning Points: Transforming Life Narratives: Jay King
2:35
Roundtable Discussion: Turning Points: Transforming Life Narratives
Moderators: Sueli Petry & Barbara Petkov
3:35
Afternoon Break
3:50
Transformation Through Song, Nature and Grandparents
Moderator/Introducer: Doug Schoeninger
Presenters: Rockey Robbins & Salome Raheim
5:30
Musical Epilogue
Saturday AM - April 18, 2015
9:00
Musical Prelude to the Day
9:15
Roots & Wings: Life Transformations
Moderator/Introducer: Ana Hernandez
Presenter: Kenneth V. Hardy
10:15Break
10:30 Turning Points in Transforming Life Narratives
Moderator/Introducer: Elijah Nealy
Presenters: Matthew Mock, Salome Raheim, Sam Cruz
12:30Lunch
Saturday PM - April 18, 2015
2:00
Transforming Life Narratives Across The Life Cycle
Moderators: Nydia Garcia Preto, Monica McGoldrick
3:30Break
3:45
Transforming Life Narratives Across The Life Cycle: Clinical Implications
Discussant: Rockey Robbins
4:15
Large Group Conversation: Froma Walsh, Ken Hardy, Rockey Robbins,
Salome Raheim, Jay King, Matthew Mock, Sam Cruz
5:30
Closing Ritual: Salome Raheim, Glenn Wolf, CharlesEtta Sutton and the
Culture Conference Musicians
5:40
End of Conference
Faculty
Seona Ah Ahn, LCSW, Alumna & Forum,
Multicultural Family Institute, private practice,
Ahn Counseling Center, Westwood NJ.
Argie Allen, PhD, MFT, Director of Clinical
Training, Drexel University Couple and Family
Therapy Department, Philadelphia, PA.
Kiran Shahreen Kaur Arora, PhD, Associate
Professor, Department of Counseling and School
Psychology, Long Island University, Brooklyn
Campus.
Deidre Ashton, MSSW, LCSW, Forum Participant,
MFI; Former Executive Director Center for
Family, Community, and Social Justice, Inc.,
Couple & Family Therapist, Princeton Family
Institute & Philadelphia private practice.
Gonzalo Bacigalupe, EdD, MPH, Professor PhD
in Counseling Psychology and Director Family
Therapy Program, College of Education &
Human Development, Univ. of Massachusetts
Boston.
Timothy R. Baima, PhD, Associate Professor, Palo
Alto University, Palo Alto, California.
Angelina Belli, PhD, Assoc Professor, Inst of Psych,
Federal Univ. of Rio De Janeiro, Univ of Brazil,
MFI, Visiting Faculty & Liason in Brazil.
Nancy Boyd-Franklin, PhD,
Distinguished
Professor, Graduate School of Applied &
Professional Psychology, Rutgers Univ.
Fernando Colon, PhD, Faculty, Ann Arbor Center
for the Family, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Author:
Finding My Face: Memoir of a Puerto Rican
American.
Samuel Cruz, PhD, Asst Professor, Religion &
Society, Union Theological Seminary, NYC.
Researcher on intersection of religion and social
processes, especially liberation among racially,
culturally and sexually oppressed groups.
Yajaira Curiel, PhD cand. MFT Program, Drexel
Univ., Philadelphia, PA.
Ken Dolan-Del Vecchio, LMFT, LCSW, DVS, CEAP,
SPHR, Vice President, Health & Wellness,
Prudential; Family therapist & Organizational
Consultant; Alumna and Board, MFI.
Roberto Font, LCSW, Faculty & Manager, MFI,
therapist, Meridian Behavioral Health, Riverview
Medical Center, Redbank, NJ.
Nydia Garcia Preto, LCSW, Associate Director, MFI,
Private Practice, Highland Park, NJ.
MaryAnna Domokos-Cheng Ham, EdD, Professor
Emerita, Family Therapy Program, Dept. Counseling
& School Psychology, Univ. Mass, Boston.
Kenneth V. Hardy, PhD, Director, Eikenberg Institute
for Relationships, NYC; Professor, Drexel Univ.,
Philadelphia, PA.
Ana Hernandez, MA, Couples Therapy, Drexel
University, Philadelphia, PA.
Paulette Hines, PhD, Private Practice, Highland Park,
NJ, Trainer and Consultant. Clinical Assistant
Professor, Dept. of Psychiatry, Rutgers Medical
School. Founding Faculty, MFI. Director Emerita,
Center for Healthy Schools, Families & Communities
at University Behavioral HealthCare, UMDNJ.
Vanessa Jackson, LCSW, Director, Healing Circles, Inc.
Atlanta Ga.
Hugo Kamya, MSW, PhD, Professor, Simmons College
School of Social Work; Founding Member, Boston
Institute For Culturally Affirming Practices.
Jay King, PhD, Psychology Faculty at the Univ Rhode
Island, Consulting Psychologist at the Center for
Career Development in Ministry, and Former
Director of Family Support & Program Evaluation at
the Family Center; Founding member, Boston Inst.
for Culturally Affirming Practice, (BICAP)
Jodie Kliman, PhD, Core faculty, PsyD. Program,
Clinical Psychology, Massachusetts School of
Professional Psychology, Newton, MA; founding
member Boston Inst. for Culturally Affirming
Practice.
Eliana Korin, Dipl. Psic., Director, Behavioral Science,
Dept. of Family & Social Medicine, Montefiore
Medical Center & Albert Einstein College of
Medicine, Bronx, NYC.
Robin A. LaDue, PhD, Recently published an historical
fiction novel “Totems of September.” She is the author
of the award winning series Journey Through the
Healing Circle. Interests: effects of prenatal exposure
& historical trauma in Native American communities.
Member, Cowlitz Indian Tribe of Washington.
Gloria Lopez-Henriquez, LCSW. Center for Family,
Community and Social Justice, Inc. and has a private
practice in Morristown, NJ.
Faculty
Dawn Belkin Martinez, MSW, PhD, Boston
University School of Social Work.
David McGill, PsyD, Couples & Family Center,
Cambridge Hospital, Psychiatry Dept., Harvard
Medical School, Cambridge, MA.
Monica McGoldrick, MSW, PhD (hc), Director, MFI,
Highland Park, NJ.
Anita McLean, PhD, PsyD, Clinical Psychologist in
Private Practice, Princeton, NJ, Visiting Faculty at
GSAPP, Rutgers University, Trainer Asian Indian
Families.
Glenda Mendelsohn, LSCW, Clinical faculty at The
Center for Family, Community and Social Justice
and couple’s and family therapist at Princeton
Family Institute.
Josiane Menos, PsyD, Alumna & Forum Participant,
MFI, School Psychologist, Brooklyn NY, Office of
Child & Family Services (OCFS), Author, chapter
in Living Beyond Loss.
Marsha Mirkin, PhD, Assoc. Professor of Psychology,
Lasell College, Auburndale, MA
Matthew R. Mock, PhD, Prof Psychology, John F.
Kennedy Univ.; Private Clinical & Consulting
Practice, Berkeley, CA; former Dir., Center for
Multicultural Development, Cal. Inst. for Mental
Health (CIMH) & Family, Youth, Children’s &
Multicultural Services, City of Berkeley, CA.
Elijah C. Nealy, PhD, M.Div. LCSW; private practice
and faculty at Columbia School of Social Work,
NYC.
Barbara Petkov, LMFT, Faculty, MFI, Private
Practice, Highland Park, NJ.
Sueli Petry, PhD, Faculty, MFI: Private Practice,
Highland Park, NJ; Rutgers University Behavioral
Health Care Children & Family Services.
Elaine Pinderhughes, MSW, Emerita Prof, Boston
College School of Social Work.
Roxana Llerena-Quinn, PhD, Department of
Outpatient Psychiatry, Boston Children’s
Hospital, Harvard Medical School. Founding
member, Boston Institute for Culturally Affirming
Practices, (BICAP).
Salome Raheim, PhD, ACSW, Dean and Professor,
School of Social Work, University of Connecticut,
West Hartford, CT.
Adrienne Riofrio, LCSW, Forum Participant, MFI;
Private Practice, Montclair, NJ, Clinical Supervisor,
Bilingual Consultant.
Rockey Robbins, PhD, Department of Educational
Psychology, University of Oklahoma, primary
interests: American Indian psychological issues
including grandparenting, assessment, treatment,
academic motivation and group interventions.
Also interested in developing American Indian
Treatment Model based on American Indian ideas
and practices.
Douglas Schoeninger, PhD, Clinical Psychologist and
President, The Institute for Christian Healing, West
Chester, PA.
Sarah Stearns, PhD, Private Practice, Shrewsbury, NJ
and Consultant with VISIONS, Inc., Roxbury, MA.
CharlesEtta Sutton, MSW, LCSW, Founding faculty
MFI, clinical faculty CFCSJ, faculty, Turtle Island
Project; facilitator, International Black Summit;
owner CTS Group: Sutton & Associates.
Alex Sutton, PhD, Director, Consultation & Education
of Youth Advocate Program, Board, MFI.
David Trimble, PhD, Clinical Asst. Prof of Psychiatry,
Boston Univ. School of Medicine, Center for
Multicultural Training in Psychology; founding
member, Boston Institute for Culturally Affirming
Practices; Board member, American Family Therapy
Academy, founding Board member, Artsbridge Inst.
Froma Walsh, MSW, PhD, Professor Emerita, SSA,
University of Chicago; Co-Founder and CoDirector, Chicago Center for Family Health; author
of Strengthening Family Resilience, Normal Family
Processes: Diversity and Complexity, Spiritual
Resources in Family Therapy.
Marlene F. Watson, PhD, LMFT, Associate Professor,
Couple & Family Therapy Department, Drexel Univ.
thandiwe Dee Watts-Jones, PhD, Psychologist II, NYC
Health & Hospitals Corporation; Faculty, Ackerman
Institute for the Family, & Private Practice.
Hinda Winawer, MSW, LCSW, Director Emerita &
Faculty, Center for Family, Community, & Social
Justice, Princeton; Faculty, Ackerman Institute for
the Family.
Glenn Wolf, Speaker, Board of Directors, Lenape
Historical Society & Spiritual Advisor to the Native
population of a State of PA Correctional Institute.
Member of Turtle Island Singers.
Upcoming MFI Programs
Coaching Therapists To Explore Their Family
of Origin Relationships Intensive Course
Monica McGoldrick & Nydia Garcia-Preto
Four Thursday Evening 4-8 & Fridays 9-3
May 14-15, 2015; Sept 10-11, 2015;
Oct 29-30, 2015; Jan 22-23, 2016
(Group limited to 8)
“This theory listens to a distant drumbeat that people have always heard. . .
It is always there and it tells a clear story to those who can tune out the noise
and keep focused on the distant drum beat.” -Murray Bowen
This seminar will use the method of coaching developed by Murray Bowen applying
systems theory to help participants explore relationships in their families of origin.
Participants will use genograms to track family patterns and decide what patterns they
may want to change. Coaching, a method of changing one’s position in one’s family
system has been compared to Zen. Its methods are educational and cognitive, but the
process relates to the existential goal of developing person-to-person relationships with
members of one’s own family while maintaining a solid sense of one’s own values and
goals. Topics covered include triangles, multigenerational secrets, abuse, addiction,
sibling patterns, enmeshment, conflict cut-off in relationship systems.
Father, I asked, “Do I have to forgive Chad tonight or can I go on hating him for another
month or 2?
Father: Here’s what you don’t know about time, son. It moves funny, and it’s hard to pin
down. Occasionally time offers you 100 opportunities to do the right thing. Sometimes, it
gives you one chance. You’ve got one chance here. I would not let slip out of your hands.
–Quote from Pat Conroy’s South of Broad
CLINICAL HOURS 40 Clinical/Cultural Competence Contact Hours.
COST: $1600 ($600 due at registration, remainder by first meeting)
TARGET AUDIENCE: LCSWs, LPCs, Addictions Professionals,
Psychologists, & other Mental Health Professionals
LOCATION: Multicultural Family Institute, 328 Denison St,
Highland Park, NJ 08904
REGISTRATION: Please contact Georgann at 732 565 9010 x 11
SEMINAR GOAL: Increase participants’ understanding of their role
in their family system.
LEARNING POINTS:
1. Understand the principles of Systems Theory.
2. Analyze Genogram Patterns: triangles, cutoffs and other family
patterns across generations of the family.
3. Describe ways of changing their own role in their family to
disengage from dysfunctional family patterns.
4. Understand principles of Bowen Coaching to transform one’s
position in family relationships.
The Multicultural Family Institute
The Multicultural Family Institute is a non-profit educational institution committed
to family therapy training, research and consultation to community institutions from a
Multicultural Systemic perspective. The Institute aims to provide training to therapists and
counselors who work with individuals, couples, and families at any point in the life cycle.
The Institute is committed to promoting social justice, countering the societal forces that
undermine people because of race, gender, culture, class, sexual orientation or disability.
Additional Services Offered by The Institute
The Institute designs specific programs for community clinicians, schools, and agencies
who seek consultation on difficult cases, in addition to training on multiculturalism, and
bridging cultural differences that create staff problems.
Contact Person: Barbara Petkov 732 565 9010 x 214
To keep up to date, please visit our website at www.multiculturalfamily.org.
Registration
Name: ______________________________________________, Degree_____________
Address: _________________________________________________________________
City: _______________________________________ State: ______ Zip: ___________
E-mail: _______________________________ Employer: __________________________
Phone: (______) ______________________ Fax (______) _______________________
Special Needs: please call 732-565-9010 x11 to learn about accommodations.
In the event of a problem or concern contact: 732-565-9010 x.11.
Culture Conference
q$200 Registration by March 17, 2015
q$225 After March 17, 2015
q$100 Full Time Student by March 17, 2015 q$125 After March 17, 2015
(Students: please pay by check and include Student ID for verification)
TOTAL AMOUNT:
$_________
q Check for $ _________ enclosed, payable to The Multicultural Family Institute. Mail to: 328 Denison Street, Highland Park, NJ 08904
qCard Number: ____________________________________ Exp Date_____/______
qMC
qVisa
q Other ________ Zip Code__________ 3 Digit Code: ________
Refund less $30 processing fee if cancelled prior to conference. NO Refund after April 16, 2015.
Signature: ______________________________________
PROFESSIONAL CONTACT HOURS - 12 CEUs
Important Notice: Certificate Fee for Professional Contact Hours is $20 payable by separate check or
money order only after the program. Participants will not be eligible for continuing education credits if
they are not on time and present for the entire session.
Participants must sign-in and sign-out. Partial credits will not be issued to participants arriving late
or leaving early.
Certified Counselors: The Multicultural Family Institute (MFI) is an NBCC Approved Continuing
Education Provider (ACEP) No. 6362. MFI may award NBCC approved clock hours for events or programs
that meet NBCC requirements.
Social Workers: The Multicultural Family Institute, provider # 1172, is approved as a provider for social
work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) www.aswb.org, through the
Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program.
The Multicultural Family Institute maintains responsibility for the program.
Social workers & Certified Counselors participating in this course will receive credit hours as listed for
each workshop.
To Register On-Line please go to www.Multiculturalfamily.org
NOTE OUR NEW LOCATION ! !
Holiday Inn, South Plainfield
4701 Stelton Road, South Plainfield, NJ 07708 • Tel: 908-753-5500
April 16, 17, 18, $89 plus tax, Double Occupancy, Free Breakfast
Reservation under Multicultural Family Institute
Rate Good until March 17, 2015
Brochure picture image by: gerald-grow.artistwebsites.com
24th Annual Culture Conference:
April 17 & 18, 2015
Roots & Wings: Turning Points:
Transforming Life Narratives
Across The Life Cycle
Multicultural Family Institute
328 Denison Street, Highland Park, NJ 08904
Telephone: 732-565-9010 — Fax: 732-565-0703
www.MulticulturalFamily.org
Non-profit
US Postage
Paid
Red Bank, NJ
Permit No. 411