Reflections on Dr.Carandang’s talk on Empowering Families Amidst Global Challenges
By: Angela Caringal
Last June 18, 2016, Tita Honey gave a talk during the International Conference on Family Ecology with the theme “Empowering Families amidst Global Challenges”. During her talk, she touched on ideas that have been recognized before but had been forgotten: “The family is the basic unit of society.” At the same time, she brought forth her own contributions to addressing the New Revolution: “The digital age is encouraging an exchange of power, from parents to their children”. Her talk provided a connection from the notions of the past to the way of life in the modern age. Advancements in technology are rapidly developing and because of this, the outlets through which children express themselves are changing and may not be as recognizable to the older generations. Tita Honey also shined a light on depression in children and expounded on the measures the family can take to address the issue. It was striking to watch her impart to the audience her own insights and wisdom on the topic because she managed to garner the attention, respect and support of all those in the room. She gave the audience a deeper glimpse into her work when she flashed the images of her progress with one of her patients. At first the paintings were dark and gloomy, daunting even, but as newer paintings were projected, the scenes became happier and serene. (At this point, many of the women in the audience began dabbing at their damp eyes).
She shared pieces she’d gathered from instagrams of depressed children and she showed the people that the youth are indeed leaving hints of their conditions, they just need to be picked up by those who are sensitive enough to hear their cries. Whilst her talk was going on, people visited the table where her books were being sold and soon enough, I’d had to reply to each “Meron pa bang kopya nito?” with “Sorry, wala na po”. Each person determined to snag a copy of her book with the intention of turning it into a signed and personalized copy. People approached her after her talk asking for a picture and autograph and she was more than willing to accommodate each one. I believe that she was able to make a lasting contribution to the studies of the professionals and professors in the room because her words spoke beyond everyday textbook definitions. Each slide was carefully prepared so as to present a claim and have it supported by examples from her many years of experience and you could clearly see the interest and understanding on everyone’s faces.
