Naomi Lubin-Alpert, West Hartford Chamber of Commerce
January 2006

"Welcome to Hartford Family Institute"

HFI was founded in 1969 and has been continuously successful ever since. We have grown to nine partners, two associates and about twenty independent practicners. Several years ago we outgrew our facilities. When we needed more space the town of West Hartford helped us stay in this thriving city by according us the then new RCO zoning so that we could purchase the building next door and build a connector between them. Two years later we won the award for best historical preservation in West Hartford. We are proud to be members of this community.

We serve individuals, families, couples, children and groups. We work with every type of trauma that needs healing such as marriage and relationship issues, anxiety, eating disorders, grief, sexual abuse, the emotional and energetic origins of illness and pain, gender issues and so many more. We created our own unique form of therapy in the early seventies called Body Centered Gestalt Therapy which includes the understanding of the energetic body, the physical body, the emotions and the spirit of each person who comes here for help. This unique form of therapy is taught in our training programs for professionals here in Hartford, Kansas City, New York and for twenty one years we traveled to Germany to teach Body Centered therapy to professionals from several European nations. From these trainings, institutes have been set up in Germany, and Kansas City as well as Hartford that teach HFI therapy.

We offer the highest standard of therapy for people of all income levels.

For the most part, the therapists who work at Hartford Family Institute have from four to ten years of advanced training beyond their academic degrees. We believe that we are all equal in our humanness and that we as healers need to understand our own trauma before we can successfully heal anyone else.

Although we all have a common philosophical background in Body Centered Gestalt Therapy, some of the therapists have additional training and incorporate Jungian Analysis, E.M.D.R., Thoughtfield Therapy, Reiki, Sand Tray Therapy, Coaching, and Substance Abuse Counseling, into their practice. In addition, we have as partners in healing a staff of body and energy workers who offer massage, cranial sacral work, Qui Gong Healing, Yoga, Quantum Touch and Alexander technique. We also offer meditation, dream work and prayer circle.

One of the most important things about HFI is that we not only treat people who need healing from trauma and train professionals to be expert therapists, we also believe that what we have to offer is for everyone. What I mean by this is that most people know more about how their ipods work than about how they themselves work. Some people who would not consider themselves in need of therapy still wonder about such things as, Is anger good or bad? How long is it o.k. to grieve? Why is it difficult to speak my needs in a way that gets me what I want? Are there really messages in my dreams? What do my emotions have to do with my illness or pain? The mass media and quantum physics seem to be exploring the possibility that we can receive messages from other realms. Is this true and how can I access this wisdom? How can I tell how others see me and can I influence how I live in the world? What is success?

These questions are part of what we call a growing process. People come here at times to explore and understand their impact on others and the world. They might want to explore what their gift is in this lifetime or they simply want to find more meaning in their lives or to understand who they truly are.

We help people answer questions like these and grow themselves to become wiser, more grounded and more powerful.

For these seekers of meaning, we have a different training program here at HFI. Its called the Human Relations Program. In this program people who are not psychotherapists receive the same lectures and demonstrations that the professional trainees receive. People from all walks of life, business men and women, doctors, nurses, corporate executives, administrative assistants, financial planners, mothers, fathers, body workers etc come here to join our professionals to understand who they are deep inside and what kind of impact they have on others on a daily basis. They learn such things as conflict resolution with fellow workers or how to relate more effectively in their families.

So, if you are in need of learning how to accept yourself, love yourself, how to open your heart and how to live with meaning and faith, we are here to serve you.

Thank you for coming. It is an honor for us to host you here at Hartford Family Institute.

-Naomi Lubin-Alpert