Adriana Hernandez, LMFT

Institute for Family improvement, Inc. (IFI) was thought since 2010, when I began my private practice. At the end of 2017, we created this name (and Project); it comes from a comprehensive goal mentioned by many human beings: we come to this life to learn something, and we keep learning until our last day! That is why personal growth, enhancement, improvement is the “why” of our company; and when this concept is applied to families, it’s even better, as family members are our most significant people in life. So, learning is an important part of IFI. After being for a year taking care of this project, I’m writing the first article for this blog.

I didn’t know how to begin this article, until I talked to someone who was a client in the past (yes, I get occasional calls from former clients). Then, everything was clearer to me! I have learned something from this person. Have you felt that after a significant experience in life or after a profound conversation you conclude that the more you know yourself or the more independent from toxic relationships you are, or the more “in peace” we are with ourselves is when we find the purpose in life or discover something great?

Each of the services, programs or activities at IFI considers those purposes. As an example, I have had excellent professors in my life, and one of them (Zapata, 2012) said that we think we are what others say we are, or even we think we are what we believe we are. This made me think that we define ourselves based on what we desire to be. That’s why only after knowing ourselves better and work on improving some things, we are no longer what we think we are to discover the “escence” of what we really are. If we were more mindful since we are kids, our lives would be very much positive than it is. There is a well-known author in Family Therapy (Gehart, 2018) who has worked with groups of kids in her son’s school teaching mindfulness and basic life skills, such as, Focus, Self-Regulation and Kidness. She discovered that those skills can even change the school’s culture when kids are more kind and less emotionally reactive.

IFI is thought to balance learning and teaching through simple tools; it balances the concepts of serving others and receiving from others, as means to reach important individual and relational goals: To be more confident and navigate different settings with calmness, self-esteem, respect, commitment and transparency.

Welcome to belong to a group of positive-changing agents!

References

• Gehart, D. (2018, September/October). Mindfulness In Schools. Teaching Focus, Self-Regulation, and Kidness. Family Therapy Magazine, The American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, 17(5), 17-20.
• Zapata, J. (2012). Cartas A Mis Hijos. Miami, FL: Techno Print and Marketing.