Today we’d like to introduce you to Bri And Jasmin Berkowitz And Vara.
Hi Bri and Jasmin, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
We met at an independent school in Austin where we both landed our dream positions to grow the student support program: Bri as Director of Learning Services and Jasmin as Lower School Counselor. Bri primarily worked with the adults (parents and teachers) of children with learning differences such as dyslexia and ADHD. Jasmin worked with children to support them through emotional dysregulation, anxiety, and stress. As we grew in our roles we learned that there is a lot of overlap in the work we do and, more importantly, that one cannot exist without the other. Sometimes, there is a neurological difference that makes learning difficult for a child and sometimes there is an anxiety disorder, mood disorder, or skills deficit that is getting in the way of a child’s growth. Because the symptoms and behaviors we see when there is a learning difference or disorder often overlap in children, we believe it is important to take a team approach to fully understand a child’s needs. This involves a true understanding of the child as a whole person including both their academic and emotional profiles.
Connected Family Partners was born from the desire to take this connected team approach to a larger community. We wanted an opportunity to take what we had cultivated within a school setting and apply this same support model to a wider range of children and their parents/ caregivers.
We are so honored to work with families who take the brave first step to seek help for themselves–the adults–and/or their children. We especially enjoy partnering with the whole family when parents and children work with both of us. This allows for tremendous growth.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Oh, it has definitely not been easy! We were both working in schools for many years before this and neither one of us has a background in business. And yet, that’s what we decided to dive into together–building a business to provide support for children and families. We have been so fortunate to have the backing of loved ones along the way who have given us a crash course in how to run a business, can officially add “professional movers” to their resume, and who listened and encouraged us when things felt impossible.
A central challenge has simply been being new and trying something for the first time. There is no way to fast forward through the early days of trying and sometimes not succeeding. Inherent in being new at something means you are at the beginning and lack experience. There is a lot of humility in this process of building a new business. We are growing the muscle of asking questions and being comfortable in the unknown. As anyone who has stepped out of their comfort zone to do something new has learned, the greatest challenge is our own self-doubt and managing our critical inner voices. Additionally, we are constantly trying to figure out how to serve the needs of communities that don’t always have access to this level of support while still maintaining a business that is financially sustainable. We currently are proud to offer a sliding scale model that allows us to work with a range of families who are looking for support.
Anyone who has ever worked in a school knows all too well that it is the best environment to learn about grit, resilience, and being scrappy with limited resources. We are so grateful for our years working within schools where we learned these invaluable skills that have really set us up well for the ups and downs of starting our own venture.
We expect there will be more struggles as we continue growing CFP. But, the obstacles we’ve encountered so far have and will continue to strengthen our partnership. We’ve come to see how our individual talents and even our challenges combine to create a powerful and balanced team.
We’ve been impressed with Connected Family Partners, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
The mission of Connected Family Partners is to partner with families, advocate for children’s mental health and learning needs, and provide support to help families meet their goals. We do this via parent coaching, child therapy and educational consultation. We also love getting out into the community! We partner with schools to lead workshops for families and staff on a range of topics.
We are most proud of our connected team approach. We are so immensely grateful to the families who choose to work with both of us for parent coaching and child therapy. We offer a team meeting roughly every 8 sessions where both of us sit down with the parents/ caregivers to discuss progress toward goals, recent observations, and to learn and connect with each other. We know this is a unique offering and we have seen firsthand the incredible growth that can occur with this model.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
At the time of writing this, we are thrilled to observe the trend toward destigmatizing neurodiversity and mental health needs. There are countless social media influencers sharing about their own experiences with a specific diagnosis or learning difference and this really has shifted the conversation. At the same time, we are also keenly aware that access to the care and support needed for this population has not increased. Families are struggling to make ends meet and the stress of raising a child continues to grow as families navigate increasing costs and the decreasing availability of essential community resources.
We’re also more connected through and to technology. We spend a lot of time talking to parents and educators about social media and digital tech. Parents and educators are really committed to developing strategies for raising kids that have relatively healthy relationships to their devices. We imagine that this conversation will be ongoing in the next 5-10 years.
With these trends we predict that there will be a greater need for a more scientifically informed understanding of the impacts of digital technology on mental health and child development, broadly. It is important that we continue to destigmatize neurodiversity and mental health carefully so as not to increase family stress and anxiety but to share the resources to appropriately support their families.
We hope to continue to be a part of a community that works to destigmatize asking for help and advocating for more inclusive spaces.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.connectedfamilypartners.com
- Instagram: @connectedfamilypartners
- Facebook: Connected Family Partners
