What: Training Teaches Adults How to Facilitate Cutting-Edge Support Groups for Girls
When: Dec. 3 and 4, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Where: Red Bluff High School, Media Room, 1260 Union Street, Red Bluff, CA
Girls Circle Association, the leading U.S. developer of gender-responsive, research-based support programs for adolescent girls, is now registering participants to attend its two-day facilitator training workshop from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Dec. 3 & 4, at Red Bluff High School, Media Room, 1260 Union Street, Red Bluff, CA 96080. The event will be hosted by Girls Inc. of the Northern Sacramento Valley, a program of the United Way. To register for the training program, call 707-794-9477, or visit girlscircle.com.
Attendees will learn to implement the widely acclaimed Girls Circle model, a proven method of promoting positive social growth and development among girls.
Developed in 1994, Girls Circle is a structured support group for girls 9 through 18 that offers skills to counteract negative social pressures and foster personal growth. It offers a social framework in which girls can openly discuss risky social behaviors, while learning to improve their self-image and interpersonal relationships. Founders Beth Hossfeld, MFT, and Giovanna Taormina formed the Cotati-based nonprofit Girls Circle Association in 1997, providing training and materials for those serving girls.
Rated “a promising approach” by the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Girls Circle provides a setting in which small groups meet two hours weekly for eight to 12 weeks or more. The Girls Circle program is being used by the Sonoma County Probation Department as the gender-responsive model for its Circles Across Sonoma program. Now in its third year, the Circles Across Sonoma program has had a significant positive impact on the teenage girls who have completed the program. These girls report increased trust in their facilitators and a greater ability to communicate their concerns to adults. Girls Circle also is used around the world by over 5,000 schools, juvenile justice, mental health, child welfare, public health and other youth-serving organizations. National studies have recognized Girls Circle’s effectiveness in:
- Decrease in self-harming behavior, such as alcohol and drug use
- Increased attachment to school
- Increased self-efficacy
- Improved body image
- Increased sense of self-sufficiency
About Girls Inc.
Girls Incorporated is a nonprofit organization serving 900,000 girls today in the United States and Canada. With roots dating to 1864 and national status since 1945 (as Girls Clubs of America), Girls Inc.® has responded to the changing needs of girls and their communities through research-based programs and advocacy that empower girls to reach their full potential understand, value and assert their rights. For more information, visit girlsinc.org.
