Nicole and Justin

nicoleandjustin

About Us:

Nicole was born in Hamilton Ontario on October 27, 1979. She was the first of three children born. Nicole moved with both her parent’s and younger siblings to Belleville, Ontario so that her parents could pursue other career opportunities. Justin was born on February 22, 1979. At the age of two, Justin’s parents divorced and he was raised by his mother with no siblings. Elementary school was the beginning for Nicole and Justin. They quickly became close friends and were inseparable. Throughout Nicole and Justin’s fourteen years together they united in Marriage on August 7, 2005. They have shared in many of life’s major milestones as a couple and best friends. During this time Justin found he best supported the children in his care while being at home full time. Nicole and Justin realized they were a very powerful team, working colboratively with their children, full time, together as Parent Therapists.

Qualifications:

Nicole

  • Education: Attended Loyalist College and a received her Early Childhood Education Diploma with Honors. Brock University was where she expanded her knowledge on child development, perception, cognition, and child language acquisition. Her focus with continuing education remains in the Social Services and Psychology field.
  • Training: Obtained her CPR/First Aid certificate in 2005. Nicole participated at the Child Care Conference “Community Connections” presented by family Space in April, 2000. Nicole successfully completed Therapeutic Crisis Intervention Training Certificate and continues to update this every six months. Nicole also participated in a six week workshop presented by Family Space in April 2006 called, “How to Talk to Kids so They will Listen, and Listen so They will Talk”.

Justin

  • Training: Justin successfully completed Therapeutic Crisis Intervention Training Certificate and continues to update this every six months. Justin was able to participate in a twelve week course offered by the National Alliance on Mental Illnesses for family caregivers of individuals with severe mental illnesses in the Spring of 2006. Justin also participated in a program offered by Family Space Quinte and the Ontario Early Years Centre called Kids Have Stress Too! During this program Justin was able to better understand stress and to help teach children ways to manage it.

Our Pets

Kassy is a friendly, frisky, very affectionate indoor cat.

Fergie is our new English Bulldog.

Description of Home

 

Current Placements / Number of Beds Approved: 3

We live on a quiet road in the country. Our home is a high ranch style, single-family home with six bedrooms, two bathrooms and two acres for the children to play. We have three bedrooms on the main floor and three bedrooms in the basement with lots of living space.

Management Style

We offer Therapeutic family-based care providing long term care in a supportive and stable environment that runs a highly structured and closely supervised program. This program allows youth to participate in a variety of activities while being aided along in displaying appropriate behaviours. Each youth follows a structured routine each day comprising of hygiene routines, life skills, chores, eating nutritious meals, attending school and community activities.

We provide youth with a consistent and responsive care environment. This will help them to learn to recognise the nature of his/her own emotions, and to regulate behaviour and emotional states. Youth experience responsive and sensitive care giving in hopes that he/she will develop social competencies, empathy and emotional intelligence. Each child will feel protected which will help him/her to explore the world and learn new skills, using their Parent Therapists as a secure base for play and other social interactions.

Our Interests

We enjoy participating in numerous recreational activities such as playing in the backyard, family movie night, recreational activities that include tag, visits to the park, sports, bike riding, YMCA Night, arts and crafts night, and family walks. We also take regular family excursions to Niagara Falls and the Toronto Zoo as we have yearly memberships. We also do a lot of seasonal activities that have become traditions for us as well as getting together with our immediate and extended families to participate in family festivities.