Franky D'Oosterlinck from Belgium contributes the following Guest Article. Franky joined the RYI Board in 2008. He serves as Pedigogical Director for the Othopedagogical Oberservation & Treatment Centre and works as an Academic Consultant at the Dept. of Orthopedagogics at Ghent University.
RYI Reaches into Europe
By: Franky D'Oosterlinck
Othopedagogical Oberservation & Treatment Centre
Ghent, Belgium
It has been a pleasure for me to serve on the board of Reclaiming Youth International. Of course, the needs of children in Belgium, my home country, are the same as in North America. The need for belonging, mastery, independence and generosity unite all our children. As in the states, we find ourselves exchanging and gathering information to help children when those needs aren’t met. Recently for example, a symposium was held in Amsterdam (the Netherlands). The symposium was about conflict and aggression management. Special attention was given to Life Space Crisis Intervention. The information presented by the speakers is available at the following website: (see www.efect-congress.eu or www.efect.be). A third symposium will take place on the 22nd and 23rd of April 2010 in Munich, Germany. You are invited and I suspect you will find a shared common concern with raising happy and healthy children.
On another note, we were very honored that Larry Brendtro visited Belgium and presented to the master students of the Faculty Psychology and Educational Sciences at Ghent University. One of the students, Tom Vandries, was so inspired by the ideas of Brendtro that he wants to dedicate his master thesis to Brendtro’s life and work. He hopes to describe the life of Larry. He plans to survey all his writings and knows there will be inspiration that can be shared with many.
