Family Attachment Base Safe Trust- Teaching Us to Care

About Us

F.A.B.S. Family Attachment BASE SAFE, is a charitable trust established in 2007 to facilitate, educate and support parents/caregivers in the formation of a secure attachment with their children.

Family Attachment Base Safe Trust is a Charitable Trust registered under the Charitable Trusts Act.  It was also registered with the Charities Commission on 13/03/2008 under No CC21759. The Trust was founded by Augustina Driessen. The Base and Safe programmes are co-ordinated by her.

Founder/Chairperson: Augustina Driessen

Tel/Fax: 07 552 5295  

 email : augustina@slingshot.co.nz

The FABS Trustees meet once a month. The Committee Members consist

of the following:-

Chairperson:                                                 Augustina Driessen Child Psychotherapist

Secretary:                                                     Paul Broatch Lawyer

Treasurer:                                                     Greg Finlay  Accountant

Committee Member:                                     Dr. Robert Shilston Family Practitioner

The programmes BASE and SAFE were developed by Dr. Karl Heinz Brisch, M.D., of Munich, Germany,  child, adolescent and adult psychiatrist; neurologist; psychotherapist; psychoanalyst and a world reknowned expert  on Attachment.

Augustina Driessen, child psychotherapist of Tauranga, was encouraged by Dr. Brisch to bring the programmes to New Zealand after attending several practicums with him in his clinic.

SAFE (Secure Attachment Formation Education) is a preventative model. This programme which targets expectant parents from 20-25 weeks of pregnancy until one year after the birth of the baby, enhances the development of a secure early attachment between parent and child.  Research has shown that securely attached children are more self-confident, more resilient and socially more competent throughout their lives.

BASE (Baby Watching Against Aggression: for Sensitivity and Empathy) is a 12 month school based programme delivered by trained educators to children three to six years of age in a classroom setting where a parent and baby visit weekly.  Observing the interaction between parent and baby under the guidance of the educators improves the children’s thought patterns and assists them to develop sensitivity and empathy towards others. The program is not about education and development it is to teach the children empathy toward others.

FABS Awhi Awhi---Teaching Us To Care--- incorporates a team of professionals and educators. It offers New Zealand society the opportunity to create a safer environment for its children, to work towards eliminating child abuse, violence and aggression from the community and to encourage the development of empathy toward others.

Training is given to those professionals who facilitate the SAFE programme as is training for the non-professionals who assist the professionals in the running of the SAFE seminars.

FABS runs training seminars for the staff of schools, kindergartens, pre-schools which request the BASE programme and its team is able to be contacted thereafter for support and advice if the school requires.

Augustina Driessen Profile
 

I live in Tauranga New Zealand.

My back ground is nursing  (psych)

I am a child psychotherapist/counsellor. I work  with parents/caregivers and their children in private practice.

I work with children in the playroom, where they are provided with a safe and trusting environment, so they are able to explore  their feelings e.g. fear,sadness, hurt, anger, anxiety or confusion about  themselves, their family or other aspects of their lives

Children communicate their thoughts and feelings for a large part through play.

Play and language enable understanding and growth. The therapeutic work takes place in a playroom, eguipped for this purpose. In order to facilitate this experience, the therapist, the room and its content  remain consistent. In work with adolescents, language is used more for communication, so an appropriate environment is used.

Meetings with the parents are aimed to give them support and understanding with the changes occurring within the family.

I work with emotional disturbed children,  adolescents as well as adults.

* developmental delay due to social and emotional  factors

* effects of physical, sexual and emotional  abuse

* attachment issues/attachment disorders

* problems of aggression and violence

* suicide ideation and attempts

* effects of trauma

* effects of loss and grief

I specialise in attachment issues/disorders

Periodically from 2004 until 2009 I worked in a clinic with Dr Karl Heinz Brisch and his team.

Dr Brisch is one of the world experts on attachment,and attachment disorders. He is a child, and adolescent psychiatrist as well as an adult psychiatrist, a neurologist, psychotherapist. and a  psycho-analyst.

He has written a book "Treating Attachment Disorders, from Theory to Therapy

Guildford press

After working for 8 weeks working alongside Dr Brisch and his team in Munich-Germany, I was more determined than ever to bring the importance of the effects an healthy/unhealthy attachment has on all of us into the public domain.

It needs to be recognised  that the beginning of each child's life and its quality depends on the availability of the mother/father to allow the infant to make a secure emotional  bond/attachment. 

I run 1-2 day workshops on Attachment, Trauma  and Attachment Disorders

It is my wish that every professional who works with children and their families, becomes aware of the importance of  attachment

Dr Brisch came to New Zealand  in March 2007 by  invitation from me.

I organised 4 workshops for professionals and  trained 14 professionals to start the programmes:

SAFE Attachment: Secure Attachment, Formation and  Education.

BASE: Babywatching, Against Aggression, Sensitivity  and Empathy.

At present I am, with my team, running the BASE programme in a number of local schools and pre-schools.  I am hoping to run a pilot programme for SAFE in the near future.

I will do further training for professionals,  Educators for SAFE Attachment and BASE