Creative Family Solutions (CFS) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1999 that provides counseling, educational and other growth-related services to youth, families and individuals in need.
The organization, a partner agency of the United Way of St. Charles, maintains a belief that solutions involve each member of a family and is community based.
Ashley Trosclair, Creative Family Solutions Clinical Director and a licensed professional counselor, said a number of programs have been put in place by the organization to help people from all walks of life.
The nurturing parenting program helps parents build empowerment and age-appropriate expectations for development, the meetings held in a group setting. It focuses on the development of empathy, self-worth, self-awareness, discipline with dignity and appropriate family roles.
“A lot of work we do is dealing with adolescents and their families,” said Trosclair, who has worked with CFS since 1998. “It’s a way in which parents can begin to understand and see (their child’s) viewpoint and vice versa. A lot of times it can come down to mutual understanding.”
CFS also holds community education courses that take aim at building lasting self-esteem and positive body image for girls. The programs are broken down into three “girls circle” programs. “Body image” examines cultural messages and personal beliefs that influence body image. “Paths to the future” is a skill-building support circle for at-risk or court-involved girls. Both are for girls ages 12 and up. “Being a girl” introduces girls to the positive experience of a support circle and is aimed at girls ages 11 to 13.
“It’s something that may affect kids the most in today’s day and age,” Trosclair said. “They’re not always confident in talking to their parents and guardians about these things. It’s a place to discuss how they believe people see them and how they want people to see them. It gives them a chance to come together and realize others are going through the same issues and having the same thoughts.”
Project Transition is another major CFS undertaking, in which inmates at Nelson Coleman Correctional Center participate in a 12 week rehabilitation program that teaches life skills. Its intention is to prepare inmates to successfully re-enter the community upon release.
Trosclair said the program is intensive, and any inmate not fully committed to it is extremely unlikely to finish. But there is a reward for doing so: when an inmate graduates the program, they can earn 90 days toward finishing their sentence.
Trosclair noted those three projects, in particular, have been aided in a major way by United Way.
The diversity of those three projects illustrates the range of people Creative Family Solutions seeks to help, from young to old, male or female.
“We can go from seeing an 8-year-old right to a 68-year-old,” Trosclair said. “We will work with any age, or any type of family.”
CFS offers individual counseling for life skills, self-esteem, stress management, anxiety, depression, ADD/ADHD, school related concerns and work issues.
It also hosts a number of community education services. Among them is a canvas painting class offered through the St. Charles Parish Public Schools Community Education program. It is intended to teach children about teamwork and communication through painting while fostering creativity.
It also makes a series of educational presentations that cover a variety of wellness and mental health topics. These presentations are available to civic organizations, parent groups, schools, businesses and church groups.
For more information, call 985-331-1999 or e-mail office@cfshope.org.
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