Jennifer Benjamin

Jessica says – “The training through the Philadelphia Child and Family Therapy Training Center has taught me to look through a systemic lens to support staff within supervision. I have been able to help staff see how their own life experiences impact the way they enter homes and see families. The training center has provided me with an alliance of individuals who are all working toward a common goal of inspiring families to be their own best resource for lasting generational change as they navigate trauma, tragedy, and hardship in a new way. I will be forever grateful for the opportunity to continue to learn and grow both personally and professionally and support staff on their own learning journey to be ethically competent clinicians. “

Congratulations to all the awardees! Your contributions are invaluable, and your passion for systemic change is a beacon of hope and progress for us all. Here’s to continued success and to the many more lives you will touch in the years to come.

This award has been established by the Philadelphia Child and Family Training Center in honor of Dr. Marion Lindblad-Goldberg whose personal and professional mission was to make the world a better, brighter, and more connected place one family at a time. She believed wholeheartedly in each of us – in our ability, through systemic and relational interventions, to heal disengagement and cultivate belonging.

Each year the award is given to a trainer, clinician, and program director/supervisor, from the ESFT-FBMHS Training Program, who exemplifies the following:

Maintains a systemic perspective. Nominees have an appreciation for the isomorphic process in training, treatment, supervision, and across systems. Nominees maintain awareness of the “whole” while working the “parts.”

Maintains balance between professional boundaries and collaborative relationships to foster positive change and competence. Nominees take a strength-based approach, balancing their professional/expert knowledge while collaboratively engaging the ecosystem to draw on existing strengths and create experiences of trust, building individual competence for all members of the system.

Engages in social ecology. Nominees have a deep appreciation for intersectionality and the lived experiences of others. As such, they express an unwavering commitment to understanding how their own social ecology and zone of proximal development informs their professional work. Nominees consistently utilize their support system to engage in deliberate practice to grow their professional skills.

Makes the most of intensity and crises. Nominees have an ability to see struggle and chaos as an opportunity for growth and development. They demonstrate facilitative leadership by keeping second order change in the forefront of their approach to individual or system distress. They nurture others’ capacity to make meaning, promote new relational patterns and shift belief systems towards lasting change.

Assesses with complexity while acting with simplicity. Nominees have a belief that training, treatment and supervision are relational, contextual, developmental and trauma informed. They demonstrate these concepts actively in their work through systemic assessment and conceptualization. While their understanding of people and situations are complex, those around them experience the person’s actions and communication as accessible and validating.

Congratulations Elena, you have been nominated for the Marion Lindblad-Goldberg Award! This award recognizes and celebrates professionals from across the commonwealth of Pennsylvania shouldering the legacy of Dr. Marion Lindblad-Goldberg, creator of ecosystemic structural family therapy. Your nomination means someone has taken the time to tell us about how they believe you are working to make the world a better, brighter, and more connected place one family at a time. They believe wholeheartedly in you and your ability, through systemic and relational interventions, to heal disengagement and cultivate belonging!

“She has shown a commitment to systemic thinking and an unwavering belief in the power of relationships to overcome challenges during a time when many Family Based programs and their agencies are under tremendous pressure. She did all of this utilizing her natural ability to foster attuned and responsive relationships. She validated and lifted up the voices of her staff
even when it was hard to do so. Elena exemplifies servant leadership, stepping in to help wherever help is needed, working to shift processes whenever possible and supporting new thinking so that barriers are eliminated for those she leads.”