Catherine Lazen, M.Ed, MSW, LSW
Social Worker, Educator, Parenting Coach
About Me
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I am a mother of three grown children. And before and during the time I was raising them, I was an educator. I created and facilitated programs that helped people of all ages learn, reach their potential and overcome big challenges. In community settings, I launched a non-profit arts organization called Arts Unbound to provide New Jersey residents living with disabilities with visual arts education and professional development. And, I co-founded an arts-based urban renewal organization called ValleyArts, which redefined the former hat factory area of Orange, NJ as an arts destination, stimulated the local economy, activated community development, beautified blighted streets and provided after school programs for underserved youth. In school settings, I designed and taught language arts curricula for teen parents, teens formerly incarcerated in the juvenile justice system and underachieving middle school students. In 2008, I spent a year in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where I launched a scholarship program for orphan girls and helped re-build a traumatized private school community in the wake of a kidnapping that took place on its campus.
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None of the work I did as an educator was as hard as parenting my children. Even with the understanding of cognitive development that came with my masters degree in Educational Psychology, I was in way over my head. I love my kids-- they're pretty fabulous, but I was convinced, at times, that they were out to get me. I did a lot of screaming and yelling and threatening and I constantly argued with my husband about what to do with them. Now, after twenty-five years working with people and raising my children, I've come to appreciate the role of social/emotional skills as the critical ingredient for success in learning, in parenting and in any endeavor. I recently earned an MSW and did my clinical training with children and families, using brain-based, therapeutic modalities that include Narrative Therapy, Expressive Arts and Sandplay Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT). I currently work in the South Orange Maplewood School district as school social worker. I provide student counseling for students with IEP's and social/emotional education/support to the whole school community.
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I tell my own children that I wish I knew then what I know now and that I plan to be an amazing Grandmother someday. Until then, my mission is to empower parents and children with the social and emotional skills they need for wellness and success at home and at school!
