Childhood Reflections on Death, War, and Uncertainty
Fourteen faces, as diverse as the colors of a rainbow overarching a water-logged earth, all peered back during this virtual meeting as this team came together. The mission: to clinically debrief and to discover the best approach to supporting a 13-year-old girl whose father was violently murdered over the weekend. The Child Welfare system removed […]
Our Children Are Not Ours
Your children are not your children.They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. -Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet, 1923 As the Nation approaches Memorial Day, a time of reflection begun in the 1860s to remember those who sacrificed their lives to keep our country free and safe, we all are confronted with a […]
The Children Are Watching Us: A Refrain
Be the person you prefer to be.
Talk to Me
Ultimately, as parents, we must stay present for our children
A Letter to Our Children from Dr. Sheryl Brissett Chapman
August, 2017 A Letter to Our Children: We adults must be very confusing at times. Too often, we have not protected you from the open and random expressions of bigotry, racism, and violence in our world, and in our community. Most often, we fail to protect you from the endless barrage of media imagery that […]
The Boys
He sat sprawling low out of his seat with his long legs, while facing me across the large conference table. The eyes looked like shades at half mast on a window, self protective, keeping more in, minimizing the clues which filter out. He was a fairly new resident in NCCF’s high intensity group home and clearly he did not trust any adult in the […]
Fail Safe Reflections on Sandy Hook
I truly have struggled to address the stunning implications of the recent massacre of such sweet innocents in Connecticut. The last few days have moved by much like a slow-motion film, and mostly have been unbelievable. This delay in my personal response to the tragedy may stem from my early (and perhaps premature) days of taking care of […]
Legacy of Loss or Hope?
Last week, I thought that we had managed our way soberly, but successfully, through another anniversary of 9/11, with all of its remembrances. This bookmark in our country’s story recalls also days in my offices on the 23rd floor of Two World Trade Center, during the 70s. I was employed by the New State Division for Youth as […]
Sometimes We Just Need to Listen
I have been thinking lately about the power of listening. Sometimes we forget how important it is to just listen, to hear what someone else is saying. When I pick up my granddaughter at school, I tell her I want to know all about her day. I ask her for the details. What did you […]
Why the Silence?
When I was growing up, my parents let me watch the Ed Sullivan Show before bed. I couldn’t just turn on the television whenever I wanted to. I only saw what they wanted me to see, when they wanted me to see it. And they didn’t have to worry about what I might find on […]
