Welcome to Family Relation First

What is counselling?
Counselling involves talking to a trained person about your problems.  Counsellors are people who really listen. Counselling is a voluntary relationship, which means that you have a choice as to whether you feel you want or need it.

What happens on my first visit?
On your first visit, you will meet and get to know your counsellor. You will talk about what you need and how your counsellor can help you.

How often are the sessions?
Your counselling sessions usually occur every week and last for one hour.  You and your counsellor can arrange these times between you.

What happens in the sessions?
In sessions, you look at how you're feeling in lots of different ways: talking, drawing, using toys, and being creative—whatever feels comfortable to you.

For how long will I be seeing the counsellor?
You will see your counsellor for as long as you both feel you need the sessions to last.

Will the counsellor tell anyone about my sessions?
What you talk about will be kept safe from other people, but if you or someone else is at risk of being hurt, your counsellor is required to tell someone.

Will I have to wait for an appointment?
We aim to see you as soon as possible. Sometimes you may have to wait, but not for very long.

What if I'm not happy with my counselling?
If you feel that your counselling is not working for you and would like to change your counsellor, this is possible and can be arranged.

Former Attorney- General, Former Governor of Netherlands Antilles and current Governor of Curacao Fritz Goedgedrag.

Refering to His first book (The Basic Needs of Children) Fritz Goedgedrag said: “I must say that I’ve read this book with keen interest and could immediately identify and recognize certain parts in the way I handle with my children and other kids. This book is written in a way that is easy to read but without losing the professional touch….I recommend this book without any reservation.”

 Former Judge in the Netherlands Antilles and current President of Court of Justice of the Caribbean (Judge Jacob “Bob” de Wit).

Refering the Cherrel Francisca’s second book (How to deal with teenagers said: “We usually hear expressions such as “today’s youth is good for nothing”, “this is a lost generation”, --in both newspaper and community don’t we? But if this is true then whose fault is it? Who is to blame? No one else but us as adults, who think that we can generalize and judge all young people the same way without realizing that we are the ones who reared the child. We must look for the faults in ourselves as parents. If things are going wrong with their development we should take a look at ourselves. Child rearing is not an easy task and we all know that when children reach the teenager phase we can make mistakes. But, it is still our responsibility to continue striving and making do the best can to comply with our responsibility. To help us with this task the book of Cherrel Francisca a valuable and important resources. It is concrete, realistic, informative and….in Papiamentu. For us who are authority figures who on daily basis deal with the results bad education, this book is more than welcome.

Dr. Jorge Patiño – General Surgen and Former director of Medical Staff at Antillean Andventist Hospital.

I recommend this excellent literary work with the conviction that after reading it your life will not be the same anymore, because you will be inspire to be a better parent and give your children the best of you --which they deserve! Dear reader, children are not a “small man/girl” but they are just children and soon they will stop being children. So enjoy them the most you can and make use of this unique opportunity you have to offer them what they deserve…the best!

Lisbeth C. Hoefdraad (Judge for young offenders in Bonaire and coordinator of civil cases in Curacao)/ Hofpresident

Have a child is easy but to rear a child in a responsible way is something else. The future is in the hands of our children. In order to have great expectation for future we must invest with love, energy and keen interest in our children. In his second book (How to deal with your teenager) Cherrel Francisca have tried to give the most profound  explanation possible regarding the physical and mental changes that teenager undergo. The author gives many ways we can attend the need of our teenager as parents. The book is written in a way that read with pleasure. I recommend this book to all the parents who have adolescents…take the time and read this book.  

Various government in turn has recognized the effort and contribution of Cherrel Francisca

Former Minister of Education and Prime Minister of the Netherlands Antilles Emily De Jong El Hage has also enthusiastically supported the contribution of Cherrel Francisca on the area of literature in Papiamentu.

Former Prime Minister of Curacao – Gerrit Schotte and Former Plenipotentiary Minister Sheldry Osepa.