6:30pm - 8:30pm 2022
Let us know you are coming by email info@hbcc.us
There is a $10 donation suggested to help cover overhead of this on-going Support Club. You do NOT have to donate to attend - Scroll down for donation button
- Connect with your community
- STOP CHASING COMPLIANCE
- START BUILDING SKILLS
Debra Ann Afarian leads the parent support club for the MOM perspective. Debra Ann & her husband are the parents of two sons, one neurotypical born in 1995 and one neurodiverse born in 1994. The later son is now a ‘formerly challenging child’ who has maximized his potential through what they learned on their journey.
Debra Ann is an expert working with parents because of her extensive personal training, yet mostly because she was a challenging child herself and the parent of a 2e bright & quirky child. As a parent, Debra Ann intially struggled to find her own self-regulation. As parents they both struggled to find solutions to help their child build skills rather than use behavior modification for his neurodiversity.
Debra Ann learned early on by her own life experiences that rewards and consequences were never meant to teach complex teaching skills. She has had many experiences with mental health challenges, namely when she lost her father after he took his own life due to alcoholism and undiagnosed depression. Debra Ann's journey supports neurodiversity. She has 39 years in 12-step programs and is a long-time friend of Dr. Bill W. She has years of training understanding the brain, trauma and a robust interest in adverse childhood experiences (ACEs).
Debra Ann now works to help teach parents to rethink conventional approaches that work solely to “gain compliance” and “extinguish behaviors” instead of build skills. Debra Ann helps parents break the cycle in order to become the parents they always dreamed they could become depsite what gets in their way.
To acomplish this, Debra Ann helps parents drill deeper to preserve their adult/child relationship, teach lagging skills and durably solve the unsolved problems that have been chronically occurring through an evidence-based, truama-informed, inclusive approach called, Collaborative Problem Solving®. She is passionate about sharing her experience, strength & hope to anyone who wants to listen to her story!
Kevin Opyrchal leads the parent support group for the DAD perspective. He is a 52-year-old man who is a single parent of a 14 year old son and a 20 year old daughter. Kevin has attended the Parenting Workshop (three times!) at HBCC. He also participated in two of the HBCC Role-Play Enhancement Workshops. Kevin did a book study group with HBCC on Stuart Ablon, Ph.D. book, “Change-able" and joined the Greater Orange County CHADD Parent Support Group on many occasions and is on track to becoming certified himself.
Kevin has found solutions to the communication problems he had been having with his son and is passionate to join with his community and share solutions. Kevin's relationship with his son, who is diagnosed with ADHD, has improved greatly and his communication improvements with his neurotypical daughter have been a side-benefit.
Additionally, Kevin has experience with the effects that drug addiction and alcoholism can have on relationships in the family as well, he sadly experienced these effects and the death of his former spouse, the mother of his children.
Kevin has many life experiences, and although no expert, he has been exposed to the many nuances of the LGBTQI+ community, including biological sex, gender identity and gender expression.
Kevin is another parent, like you, who is traversing this challenging responsibility called parenting. He wants to share his experiences and hope with you to find solutions for those who are finding challenges in their relationships with their children.
