FREE COVID-19 WALK-UP TESTING FOR ALL!

I wanted to let you know about a new offering, a FREE COVID-19 Walk-up Test Site in Pasadena, that the non-profit that I work with, Young & Healthy, helped to put on along in collaboration with CORE. I have attached a flyer and pasted information below. I thought it might be helpful for you, your staff, and community to know. I hope that this is a helpful resource. Get tested and help to slow the spread!

What:

COVID-19 Walk-up Only Testing Site- Open to all!

Where:

Altadena Seventh Day Adventist Church

2609 N Lincoln Ave, Altadena, CA 91001

When:

The clinic will began this week Monday 10/19 from 11am-6pm & Tuesday 10/20 from 11am-6pm

How:

Testing will be open for at least a month at the same location on Mondays and Tuesdays from 11am-6pm. The more people that attend, the longer it will be open.

The testing kits are cheek swabs, results should be sent to them within 24-48 hours.

If they are able to register ahead of time, that will save them time at the site: https://curative.com/sites/9989/#9/34.1905/-118.1592 . If not, they can register the day of at the testing site.

When they register, they should enter the phone number where they want to get texted result AND an email where they can get results sent. 

If they have insurance, they should turn in their insurance number/card. This will help us serve more people and continue this community service.

Looking Forward to New Offerings in 2019

I just moved to a new, larger office space with Anchor Children and Family Counseling and I am looking forward to having the opportunity to run more groups and workshops. Here are some of the new mindfulness, art, and yoga offerings I am looking forward to in the new year, starting January 14th, 2019:

A New Year of School-Based Mindfulness

Looking forward to a new year working as a mindfulness educator at Young & Healthy Pasadena in Pasadena Unified School District! This past Thursday I was able to attend the Back to School Social at Altadena Elementary and meet some of the kindergartners that I will be working with in the mindfulness program. I am very excited that I will not only be working here, but also, at 10 other schools in the district this year with kindergartners and middle schoolers! We are very happy to be expanding the program, and are looking forward to sharing tools for healthy living (i.e. learning how to calm down, deal with difficult life situations, and be focused and ready to learn!) with children and families in our community :)

Invitation to the "Unity Conference 2018: Communities in the Wake of Disaster"

I am excited to invite you to attend the "Unity Conference 2018: Communities in the Wake of Disaster." This conference is presented by Alliant International University's I-MERIT, Los Angeles organization, and will take place on Saturday April 14th from 9:30am-5:30pm. For more information, and to register please visit our website: http://unityconference.wixsite.com/2015

A main focus of the conference is on the impact of disasters on on individuals, families, schools and organizations in disadvantaged communities, as well as on provider training and burnout prevention. Poster sessions on multiple dimensions of diversity will be exhibited. Examples include street work, experiential interventions, single sessions, working with relief organizations and therapist training.

California Head Start Parent and Family Engagement Conference

I was honored to represent Anchor Children and Family Counseling, Inc. at this year's California Head Start Association Parent and Family Engagement Conference in Orange County this week with Dr. Melissa Springstead (in spirit!). I love presenting at this conference because it is the perfect place for me to integrate so many of my passions in Marriage and Family Therapy, Mindfulness, Infant and Preschool Mental Health, and Early Childhood Education! This year we presented on "Mindful Self-Care for Teachers, Staff, Parents, and Families of Young Children" and it was amazing to see the participants transition from stressed to relaxed after a series of mindfulness experientials! Hoping to inspire many more with future collaborations with local and national Head Start programs :)

An Opportunity to be a part of making Pasadena a Trauma Informed Community!

Young & Healthy Pasadena, a local non profit organization, is offering a free screening of Paper Tigers on April 15th, 2018 at 5:30-8:30pm with dinner provided. This film follows six students during a year in the life of an alternative high school, Lincoln, that has radically changed its approach to disciplining its students, based on understanding and treatment rather than judgment and suspension, becoming a promising model for how to break the cycles of adversity that affect so many youth and families. This is part of our efforts to create a trauma-informed community! You can register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/paper-tigers-film-screening-tickets-39342258755. Hope to see you there!

Growing Families Community Presentation

Last weekend, Anchor Children and Family Counseling, Inc.'s Melissa Springstead, Becca Bokoch, and Amoret Kaufman presented on "Signs and Solutions to Stress" for LCPC (La Canada Presbyterian Church)'s Growing Families program. We really enjoyed giving a community presentation to a diverse audience of children, parents, and educators. Also, we got some great feedback from this group on their opinions and experience of the acceptability, feasibility, and perceived effectiveness of mindfulness and self-care interventions. You should be able to view our presentation in the near future on their website if you are interested: http://www.lacanadapc.org/…/parentsfamilies/growing-families.

Back-to-School!

With the start of the new 2017-2018 academic year just around the corner (or maybe it has already started for some of you), I have been very active in several local school staff trainings. I am feeling refreshed and excited for the new school year, and I have seen a lot of that same energy from the educators, clinicians, and staff at these trainings. As previous teacher in early childhood education and student myself, and a current counselor in school-based therapy and an adjunct faculty at Alliant International University, I can relate to the excitement and anxiety that can present itself before a new year with new students/teachers begins. This is all the more reason why creating a self-care plan and preparing strategies for child wellness is so important!

Here are some highlights from my week:

Monday, August 7th:

Day 1 of 2 presenting at Head Start Preschool's back-to-school staff training with Melissa Springstead, representing Anchor Children and Family Counseling, Inc.! On this day we presented "Signs and Solutions to Stress: Self-Care Strategies" and included several mindfulness and art-based practices. I love being able to share integrated mindfulness and art practices with fellow colleagues in helping professions, because it is a self-care strategy that is so helpful in my own self-care. We need to take time to care for ourselves to ensure that we will be able to care for others in need!

Wednesday, August 9th:

Day 2 of 2 (but hopefully to be more in the future!) presenting at Head Start preschools back-to-school staff training for teachers in the Glendale/Pasadena area with Melissa Springstead, representing Anchor Children and Family Counseling, Inc.. On this day we presented "Signs and Solutions to Stress: Child Wellness Strategies." I was personally so excited to present for Head Start, as I have focused my area of study on the zero to three population, from my time as a teacher in Early Childhood Education with UCLA's Infant Development Program, to my recent completion of the Infant and Preschool Mental Health Certificate with Alliant International University. Integrate my knowledge of child development and the applications of infant and preschool mental health practices for these presentations was an extremely fulfilling and rewarding experience!

Tuesday, August 8th:

We at Anchor Children and Family Counseling, Inc. are helping to prepare many schools and agencies for the new academic year! Today Melissa Springstead and I shared trauma-informed mindfulness interventions with Pasadena Unified School District, along with several wonderful presentations from Matt Bennett from Bennet Innovation Group, and Mary Donnelly-Crocker from Young & Healthy. We are so excited to see the movement towards trauma-informed care in Pasadena, and very grateful to be a part of it! Included below are pictures of some of the awesome mindfulness tools we were able to share, and Young and Healthy was able to provide, for all of the teachers to implement in their own classrooms (including: glitter jars, heart pillows, and affirmation boxes)!

Graduation Day

This past weekend I graduated with my PsyD in Couple and Family Therapy and officially celebrated becoming Doctor Rebecca Bokoch. I am still feeling so full of joy, pride, gratitude, and empowerment. I am so proud of the hard work that I have done the past five years in this doctoral program, and for completing my dissertation, entitled: "Acceptability, feasibility, and effectiveness of a mindfulness-based art therapy group curriculum on child mental health outcomes in a school-based setting: A program evaluation." I am so excited to continue to use this knowledge, training, and experience to better serve the mental health needs of individuals, children, families, and communities.

In addition, I am so thankful for the support of my family, friends, peers, professors, and mentors. I also want to say thank you to my clients, for sharing your lives with me and inspiring me in my work every day!

Child Mindfulness and Art Therapy Workshop

I am overjoyed after the Child Mindfulness and Art Therapy Workshop this past weekend. I was honored to co-present with Dr. Noah Hass-Cohen and thankful to the Alliant Art Therapy Club for hosting. It was so exciting to see other clinicians and teachers get excited about the child mindfulness and art therapy curriculum that I have been researching, developing, and implementing over the past couple of years. Thank you so much to everyone who attended! I learned so much from everyone's feedback and got some great new ideas! I feel invigorated to continue with this clinical work and my dissertation, and I am looking forward to continuing to share my knowledge and passion for child mindfulness and art therapy!

Greeting each moment like a new year: with opportunity, intention, and hope

Happy New Year!

The beginning of a new year often reminds us of opportunity, intention, hope, and New Year resolutions. One of my New Year resolutions is to greet each moment with this same sense of opportunity, intention, and hope. As part of these new opportunities, I am very excited to announce my upcoming presentation schedule:

Saturday, January 28th, 2017 at 10am-5pm with Noah Hass-Cohen

Child Mindfulness and Art Therapy Workshop

Hosted by the Alliant Art Therapy Club

-       Great for parents, teachers, clinicians, mindfulness practitioners

-       You can register for this event here: http://arttherapyclub.wixsite.com/cspp/childmindfulnessworkshop

Tuesday, January 31st, 2017, time TBD with Melissa Springstead

Mindfulness Intervention as part of Trauma Informed Care Training

Hosted by Young and Healthy

-       You must be invited to this event by Young and Healthy Pasadena as part of a four-part certification series training.

Friday, March 3rd, 2017, time TBD

Child Mindfulness and Art Therapy in a School Setting: A Program Evaluation

Hosted by the AAMFT-CA Annual Conference

-       Great for mental health professionals and students

-       You can register for this event here:

http://aamftca.org/2017-aamft-ca-7th-annual-division-conference/

Sunday, April 2nd, 2017 at 10am with Noah Hass-Cohen:

Self-Compassion, Mindfulness, and Art-Based Therapy for Children: Curriculum and Application

Hosted by the Expressive Therapies Summit Los Angeles and UCLArts and Healing

-       Great for mental health professionals, students, parents, teachers, artists

-       You can register for this event here: http://www.expressivetherapiessummit.la

Sunday April 30th, 2017 at 9:30am with Melissa Springstead: Signs and Solutions to Stress

Hosted by Growing Families at La Canada Presbyterian Church

-       Great for parents, children, and families

-       This event is free and open to the public, no registration is required!

I hope to meet you at these events! And I am so excited for what other great opportunities 2017 has to offer!

Sincerely,

Rebecca Bokoch

My First Silent Meditation Retreat

A couple of weeks ago I went on my first 5-day silent meditation retreat with InsightLA. It was an incredible experience. I was nervous in anticipation before I attended this retreat, and when I first got there, I often caught myself planning ahead and worrying about the next retreat I would go on, or the next thing on my to do list. But eventually, I was able to just be, and fully experience each moment, and really absorb all of the benefits of the meditation practice on retreat. I allowed the schedule to become my teacher. I was challenged in many ways, and learned more about myself, my patterns, my relationships, and my practice. I also gained insight into how to balance and incorporate mindfulness and compassion into my daily life at a deeper level. I am so excited to share my experience and pass along this mindfulness and compassion to others! I am so grateful for this experience and the beings and space that shared it with me.

Mindful Schools

I am currently in the middle of taking a 6-week online Mindfulness Fundamentals course with Mindful Schools. It has been great for enhancing my practice and giving me more ideas for how I can use mindfulness with my clients. This course is great for any parent, teacher, or person who is interested in starting a mindfulness practice; however even as an experienced mindfulness practitioner, I am still finding great value in this course. It is so important for me as a therapist to keep my mindfulness practice, in order to be able to use it effectively with my clients. I am so glad that I am taking this course and for the opportunity to refresh my knowledge and practice with some of the core foundations of mindfulness. If you would like to learn more about Mindful Schools and this Mindfulness Fundamentals course, you can visit the website here: http://www.mindfulschools.org

Meditation Retreat in Sequoia

Last week I went on an amazing Meditation and Massage retreat in Sequoia with Rachel Hardy. On this retreat, I renewed my personal meditation practice and walked away with several other tools to use for my own self-care, and for the care of my clients. I also met some of the most intelligent, courageous, and strong women, who encouraged me to follow my own path. As a therapist, I often encourage my clients to follow their own path and to tell their own story. I help clients to feel safe to tell their own story free from judgment, even if it differs from the stories of other people, or from the stories that other people tell about them. My experience at this retreat reinforced my personal and professional beliefs about the power of meditation and self-compassion. I feel so joyful and gracious that I had the opportunity to attend this retreat, and to share the experience with such wonderful people. Thank you for the laughter, wisdom, and compassion!

My International Experience

I just returned from an incredible trip abroad. I had an amazing experience the past few weeks networking with other professionals and learning about international perspectives on family therapy and working with diversity. I was thrilled to be able to share my presentation, Mindfulness Art Psychotherapy: Practicing with Children and Families in a School Setting, with other students and professionals in the field from all over the world at the International Week at the Catholic University of Applied Sciences in Freiburg, Germany. I was also fortunate enough to give a second talk on using mindfulness and art with young children to students studying to be social educators for nurseries and kindergartens at the University of Copenhagen College, Sydhavn in Copenhagen, Denmark. I am so thankful for all of the wonderful experiences and connections that occurred as a result of this trip. I cannot wait to continue to pursue these connections and opportunities with others in the future. Together, we learn so much more and are able to reach so many more people!

Mindfulness-Based Child Therapy Groups

Do you notice that your child has a hard time focusing or paying attention?

Does your child struggle to make friends or socialize with others?

Does your child have difficulty dealing with big emotions or self-regulating?

Are you interested in your child gaining experience in mindfulness, artistic expression, and compassion?

Mindfulness-based child therapy groups can help to anchor your child! Mindfulness is a very grounding practice that is supportive of helping children with anxiety, depression, and attention problems. And group therapy is a great way to build social skills and make new friends! In my groups, I use a mindfulness art psychotherapy approach, where the children will be able to practice mindfulness, share experiences, and engage in reflective art processing activities. There will be groups for different age groups: preK, K-1st, 2nd-3rd, and 4th-6th graders. Groups will take place: June 27th-July 1st, July 11th-15th, and August 15th-19th. The groups take place Monday through Friday, one hour per day. The first day will be a parent group, and the following four days will be child groups. 

If this is something that you or someone you know would be interested in, please contact me at:
Email: rebecca@rebeccabokoch.com
Phone: (323) 301-3984
Website: www.rebeccabokoch.com
Location: 280 S. Los Robles Ave, Unit B, Pasadena, CA 91101

Signs and Solutions to Stress

This morning I gave an exciting presentation with Melissa Springstead on "Signs and Solutions to Stress" for the parents at San Marino Community Church Nursery School. We talked about relational mindfulness strategies to help parents and preschool age children with stress, including the use of these awesome calming kits and glitter jars! Let us know if you are interested in us giving a similar presentation at another location, or if you are interested in learning more about the calming toys smile emoticon

A Share and Care Workshop Success!

This past weekend I helped to host a wonderful Art Therapy Club workshop on "Children's Art Therapy and Trauma Groups" presented by some of the amazing therapists at Cedar Sinai's Share and Care program! I am so thankful to the presenters Jonathan Vickbur and Genia Youn for sharing their knowledge and experience, and the volunteers and attendees for all of their participation!

Using Mindfulness in the Classroom at Pasadena Unified School District

Yesterday, I presented with Melissa Springstead and Young and Healthy at the Pasadena Unified School District training for preschool, TK, and kindergarten teachers, about how to use mindfulness in the classroom with children who have experienced trauma. We reviewed the research on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), research on mindfulness with children in primary grades & their teachers, and age-appropriate formal and informal practices that can be used in the classroom! I am so thankful for this great experience of sharing and learning!

Children's Art Therapy and Trauma Groups: A Share and Care Workshop

As the Alliant International University, Art Therapy Club Coordinator, I am so excited to announce that we will be hosting an upcoming workshop on: Children's Art Therapy and Trauma Groups. The workshop will be presented by Jonathan Vickburg and Genia Young from the Cedars Sinai Share and Care program. The workshop will take place on Saturday April 16th, 2016 from 10am-2pm at Alliant International University. This workshop will provide experiential activities for students and professionals to use in their own practice! Please feel free to spread the word, and come and join us if you are interested!