Stimulate your health and creativity
with an awesome family activity!

We can bring family workshops to your organization – call for information: 651-639-2527.

Through the use of creative activities we create to explain the unexplainable to those who will never walk in our shoes.

Have fun while building family strengths and closer connections. It's rare that families discuss disabilities together, in spite of the huge impact it has on the family. Having a creative way to interact makes this possible. The activities are designed to be therapeutic--but it's so fun, the kids won't know!

These classes are designed as adult/child activities (for parents, grandparents, caregivers, and siblings). Children should be six years or older (this includes adult children who still receive daily support from their families). Class size is limited to 20 participants. Accommodations are made to meet the special needs of the child, and light snacks are provided. Pre-registration required.

The Family Institute workshops are designed so the entire family can enjoy a creative experience in an environment that accommodates special needs, addresses concerns and builds strengths. 

Parent Comments:

This family workshop offered a structured activity which kept the kids engaged in something constructive.  The place was accepting which made it possible to relax as a parent and enjoy our children's activities.

It was wonderful to have fun, let go of problems and feel such a real welcoming!

A great way for teens to connect with parents - answering questions and working side by side - not having to look at each other for an intense discussion.  This allowed my daughter to listen and process.

The workshop was a wonderful way to spend a morning with my children.  I didn't think it would fit in between all our commitments but I'm so glad we came.

Workshops are designed to engage families in a process that allows them to learn about one another's thoughts, ideas and feelings, while being creative and enjoying time together.  Like traveling to a new destination family workshops give family members the opportunity to see one another's perspectives in a way they may never have noticed or stopped to experience.   

In the hustle and bustle of getting from one commitment to the next, we often don't take time to be a family.  Even when we have this opportunity, we rarely, if ever discuss the impact of the disability or chronic illness on our lives.  In interviewing over 200 families about their experience in living with an ongoing health condition, not one family, regardless of the child's age, had ever discussed the disability or chronic illness – as a family. 

People can be a bit leery of attending a workshop - not knowing exactly what it entails or how their children will react.  Teens, in particular, may not want to go to a family event - especially if it involves younger children and siblings.  One 16 year old teen introduced himself as wanting to be anywhere but at the workshop.  As it turned out, he got involved, had fun and was a great leader for the younger children. 

Family
Viewpoints

For me, the Family Institute for Creative Well-Being workshops have been a place to find acceptance and creativity.

For over 10 years I have felt an uneasy fit at any social gatherings due to our 14-year-old son's disabilities and neurological idiosyncrasies.  Earlier this year, 2003, I discovered the Family Institute for Creative Well-Being and have participated in their workshops with my son.  Both of us had refreshing experiences.  I found acceptance; I have found friends and families.  Regardless of the degree of disabilities, everyone fits in.  My son may not have realized it but, I know he was relaxed and enjoyed himself at these workshops. 

We have attended two workshops, The Beat Goes On, and Illuminating the Fog.  Minnesota guest artists assisted at both workshops.  Without prior experiences and with their guidance and help, we outperformed even our imaginable dreams.  We danced on our feet or in wheelchairs.  We played musical instruments with and without help.  We composed a song together, a very wonderful song.  We created imaginative clay creatures that are beautiful.  We made up our own board game and the children played the game on a giant floor board, on their feet or in the wheelchairs. 

The activities are therapeutic and fun.  They foster creativity for adults and children, with or without disabilities.  But, most of all, these workshops create an atmosphere where we do not have to be on guard.  

 — Orapat Sivatanpisit

Family
Viewpoints

Following the birth of my very premature twins I could have filled a bathtub with my tears.  My son's struggle for life, to survive his chronic illness, went on for seven years at which point he requested a time-out.  No more hospitals, no more doctors, no more nurses, no more school.  He was very ill and too tired to fight.  He wanted time to be. 

We began palliative care at home and developed a creative stimulating program he could appreciate.  Slowly his health began to improve.  This change helped me to recognize my own need for change.  I started "being."  I painted my house instead of looking at its need for paint.  I brought new people into our daily lives and began to go out to different places.  One of these places was the Family Institute for Creative Well-Being.  It is a magnificent venue designed to comfort.  It helps us to acknowledge our struggles with disability and chronic illness.  It also helps us to feed our need to "be" instead of merely existing and living through the tough stuff. 

We encourage you to join in these wonderful activities where we "dance" (or create in a wide variety of ways) for who we are.  We dance in celebration.  We share laughs, write a poem, sing a song, and share our stories.  We create joy and develop well-being through artistic expression.  It works! And when you leave, you take home with you something priceless – the art of being. 

 — Susan Grandell

Family
Viewpoints

Let's be honest.  All of us with special needs kids or adults to care for know it is much easier to just stay home, rather than to venture out for a few hours in the evening or weekend.  Down time is precious.  Our lives are busy enough just with working and keeping up with daily routines and cares.  It takes a great deal of effort to get my daughter & self organized, ready, and physically out to the car just to go anywhere.  Since that is not likely to change for us, the incentive has to be pretty good for me to muster up that kind of energy! 

Each of the workshops that Carrie & I have attended through FICWB, truly are worth that effort.  The classes have inspired us to explore our thoughts & feelings, while bringing new perspectives to our own personal situations.  The creative juices that lie dormant in us all are brought to the surface!   Meeting other families & hearing their stories help us to realize that we are not alone in our struggles, or our pain.   All these things together bring us a step closer in the healing process.   We always seem to take away with us a renewed, positive outlook on life and lots of nutritious food for thought. 

So make the effort ~ try a class that peaks your interest.  You will have fun & be healthier for it!  Hope to meet you there!

  — Carol Carlson