On November 17, I had the pleasure of speaking with Father Paul Abernathy, Founder and CEO of the Neighborhood Resilience Project in Pittsburgh, PA. I recorded our conversation and offer it here for you to learn about his work in Pittsburgh, how it began and the form it has ultimately taken both in Pittsburgh as well as several other communities across the U.S. I invite you to share in Father Paul’s initial vision and the ongoing effects of his trauma-informed, resilience building, program. (side note: Father Paul was a Keynote Speaker at the annual Reimagine Conference sponsored by the Northwest Indiana Community Action) in October.
I have been a social worker for 31 years. My work has been with families and children first in the area of Child Protective Services and then as a therapist working with the same population. I have worked with divorcing and divorced parents teaching co-parenting techniques, supervised therapists and have been a social worker for emotionally challenged children and adolescents in an inner city school system. About 7 years ago I was introduced to the work of Bryan Post and, as a friend and colleague said at the time…I went Post-al. All of my previous assumptions and indeed my work using behavioral interventions, got pushed aside. And along came the realization that none of the interventions, meant to change behaviors, had anything in common with helping children heal from the trauma they had experienced. My best work these days is as a coach/consultant for parents, other caregivers, and teachers. The services I provide are parent education, coaching, consulting and supervising. I am the mother of five adult children and grandmother to five. I am both a bio mom and an adoptive mom.
