Promoting Empathy and Resilience in the family: A Cultural-Informed Lens

Traditional methods of parenting in Black Canadian & Caribbean families have focused on punitive measures, with a devaluation of developing healthy parenting attachments, nurturing and supporting mental wellness, and teaching emotional regulation.  Using a cultural-informed lens, we will introduce how these methods have parenting have evolved from a larger context of intergenerational trauma, systemic racism, and displacement which has interrupted families.  We will discuss the concept of “empathy”, and the desired behaviors of this important skill, and how you can incorporate empathy to build resiliency within the family.  Finally, we will discuss how you can use empathy to support your children and family through the recent COVID-19 crisis.

Nicole Perryman, M.A., MSW, RSW

Nicole Perryman is the Clinical Director of Aset Group Consulting and Counselling Services and provides psychotherapy services, supervision, assessments, and training to community members in Durham Region.  She possesses graduate degrees in Social Work and Counselling Psychology and is a Certified Play Therapist (CPT) with the Canadian Association for Play Therapy.  A community member and social advocate, Ms. Perryman has worked with a diverse group of organizations focused on developing programs for marginalized groups, redefining policy systems to promote greater equity in organizations, and an avid author addressing areas such as grief/loss, cultural-informed counselling approaches, equity training and more.  In 2019, she started two grassroots organizations Ifarada: Centre for Excellence and Kujenga Renewed Family Services as an innovative approach to connecting people together, addressing mental health, and building resiliency in the family

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