In celebration of ATN’s 2016 Angels in Adoption award, we’re profiling ATN members who have helped ATN win the award — and who have themselves been Angels to families and children.
by: Stephanie Reh Garde
Our family is here today because of “Ken and Peg”. Kenneth Frohock and Peg Kirby, founders of the Attachment Institute of New England, were there when I made a desperate phone call in 2002. An internet search had led me to them. We started therapy soon after and continue to utilize their talents to this day.
As a team, they are an ATN Angel because that is how my family sees them. They helped me, as the primary caregiver, making me stronger and giving me the tools to help my son. They helped all of us become a therapeutic family. They knew, very early on, that the best success happens when the family is involved, the parents are in each session, the primary caregiver works on their traumas, and the therapists work in tandem.
To this day, they continue to help children with trauma and attachment issues at AINE. We benefited from their EMDR training and their ability to look at all different modalities, finding what worked for us best. As we all know, what works for one family, doesn’t work for others. It takes experience and skill to go from session to session each day and then, to come back and do it again the very next day.
When he was an ATN Board member, Ken helped ATN modernize and look to future sustainability. In 2009, he introduced me to Julie Beem at ATN. I have been a volunteer for ATN since that moment. Both Ken and Peg send families our way and make sure their families get the support they need.
As ATN Professional Organization Members, Ken and Peg continue to support ATN. They are humble and hard-working.
