Center for Reflective Communities

An Affiliate of New Center for Psychoanalysis

Guiding principles

To flourish, children need relationships with adults that are ‘secure’- meaning they are safe, stable and emotionally responsive. The single most important ingredient of a secure relationship is the capacity of the adult to be reflective. In particular a secure relationship with a parent can provide profound lifelong benefits for the child in all areas of development- cognitive, behavioral, emotional, social and physical. CRC has a strong affiliation with NCP because so many of their ideas are grounded in psychoanalytic theory and research.

Mission

Center for Reflective Communities is dedicated to promoting healthy child development through the use of a reflective approach to strengthening the relationship bonds that children have with all the people who care for them. Their programs are available to parents, caregivers, educators and mental health practitioners from a wide range of cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. 

Training, service, education and research

Center for Reflective Communities provides advanced training for mental health and early childhood specialists and educators; offers direct services to parents and young children; provides in-service workshops, seminars and other types of presentations to professional groups as well as to the public; and conducts research in the field of parent-child relationships. 

Both of CRC's core programs – RPP and MPG – have been qualified by the California Institute of Mental Health as Community Defined Evidence (CDE) group models for prevention and early intervention. This distinction has allowed community mental health centers throughout Los Angeles County to be trained in the RPP and MPG models. The trained mental health professionals are then able to provide these innovative programs to the families they serve.

• Reflective Parenting Program (RPP) offers an innovative approach to parenting. During this 12-week group parents learn to be strong and effective while remaining sensitive and responsive to their child's needs. The curriculum-led Reflective Parenting Workshop helps parents understand the often subtle, nonverbal cues that accompany a child's behavior as meaningful communications - a skill that facilitates healthy development and secure attachments. 
• Mindful Parenting Groups (MPG) offer a similar innovative approach to parenting as RPP but for a group of parents along with their infants or toddlers. These groups are designed to enhance parents' capacity to "read" their babies' and/or toddlers' cues and communications. Each group creates the conditions for parents to experience, cultivate, and practice the art of mindful curiosity about their own and their infant's experience while also addressing practical concerns about behavioral and emotional issues typical of infants and toddlers.
• Reflective Care Program (RCP) is a training program for care-giving professionals in various residential or child care settings, focused on enhancing the relationship between caregiver and child to support optimal developmental outcomes.

CRC has partnered with several agencies, including Family Service of Santa Monica, Hope Street Family Center, and TIES for Families. CRC and NCP continue to co-sponsor RPP and MPG trainings. The success of CRC's programs can be seen in the testimonials of the trained professionals, the increasing demand for trainings and parenting groups, and most importantly, in the parents, children, and families who are served. 

Reflective thinking improves developmental outcomes and creates resiliency in children. It communicates safety, attunement, and empathy that provide lifelong physical, mental and emotional benefits for children. 

For more information, please visit www.reflectivecommunities.org or email .