2020-21 LECTURE SERIES
Improve your parenting skills from the comfort of your home!
REGISTER FOR ONE, JUST A FEW OR ALL!
(you need to register for each one individually)
(you need to register for each one individually)
LECTURES ARE FREE OF CHARGE
However, if you would like to make a donation to Texas Family Enrichment to defer the costs of these lectures:
However, if you would like to make a donation to Texas Family Enrichment to defer the costs of these lectures:
September 19, 7:30 pm CST
Solving Conflict in Marriage
Doug Hinderer, MA LMFT
Doug Hinderer, MA LMFT
In his talk Doug will talk about how conflict in marriage can not be eliminated - it must be managed. He will then speak about the connection between emotions and behaviors; the needs and fears of wives and husbands; the "four horsemen of the apocalypse" as described by John Gottman and how to resolve conflict gently. A very insightful and practical talk geared to couples of all ages.

In July of 2017, Doug received an MA in Marriage and Family Therapy and currently works part time as a Marriage Therapist at the Chicago Christian Counseling Center. He also has a private practice in which he provides tele-therapy throughout Illinois. In addition to seeing couples and individuals experiencing marital disharmony, he conducts day long workshops for married couples and engaged couples. You can learn more about Doug and his private practice by visiting his website: www.happymarriageforlife.com.
Prior to his career in Marriage counseling, Doug worked for 36 years in Human Resources, retiring in 2016 as the Senior Vice President, Human Resources and Association Leadership Development at the National Association of REALTORS®.
Doug and his wife Shirley have been married for 40 years and have 9 children and 5 grandchildren.
Prior to his career in Marriage counseling, Doug worked for 36 years in Human Resources, retiring in 2016 as the Senior Vice President, Human Resources and Association Leadership Development at the National Association of REALTORS®.
Doug and his wife Shirley have been married for 40 years and have 9 children and 5 grandchildren.
October 17, 7:30 pm CST
Because I want to! Forming the Will of our Children
Pilar Caranti
Pilar Caranti
Mrs. Caranti considers the training of the will an essential aspect of the formation of our children and the basis of a good education. A well-directed Will makes it easier to achieve whatever we set our minds to. Our example to educate the will of our kids is key. In her talk she will talk about how to form the will of our children and how to foster virtues. In particular, she will go into detail about two virtues—order and fortitude—that she believes are vital to raise happy and mature adults. The virtue of ORDER not only includes material order but is, above all, order in the ideas and order in the affections which lead to self-control; hence, why it’s so important and sometimes neglected. The virtue of FORTITUDE is important for our children to develop so they can resist harmful influences, withstand difficulties, and strive to act positively to overcome obstacles and undertake great deeds.

Pilar Caranti holds a Masters in Psychology from the Catholic University of Argentina. She is a Certified Professional Life Coach and loves working with mothers and couples. Family topics and the education of children are her passion. You can learn more about Pilar and her private practice by visiting her website: www.pilarcaranti.com
Pilar is a member of the board of Texas Family Enrichment since 2015. She is a moderator and facilitates cases in different cities. She and her husband Guido are the founders of Family Summer, a vacation for families in Beaver Creek, Colorado that started in 2015. Family Summer combines a family enrichment course, leisure and outdoor adventures.
They have been married for 25 years and have 6 children, ages 24 through 13. Originally from Argentina, they have made Houston their home for the last 24 years.
Pilar is a member of the board of Texas Family Enrichment since 2015. She is a moderator and facilitates cases in different cities. She and her husband Guido are the founders of Family Summer, a vacation for families in Beaver Creek, Colorado that started in 2015. Family Summer combines a family enrichment course, leisure and outdoor adventures.
They have been married for 25 years and have 6 children, ages 24 through 13. Originally from Argentina, they have made Houston their home for the last 24 years.
November 14, 7:30 pm CST
Exercising Parental Authority Lovingly to Build Self-Discipline
Alvaro de Vicente
Alvaro de Vicente
In this talk Mr. de Vicente will explore the meaning of authority as it refers to parenting. As they legislate, execute, and judge, parents face the arduous task of adopting various personalities, each with different characteristics. Mr. de Vicente will also explore the origin of parental authority and its purpose: is it to attain compliance from the children? Is it to ensure order for a positive family atmosphere? Or is it to help the children grow in self-discipline? By seeking to instill self-discipline in their children, parents try to make themselves dispensable from the moment they begin educating them. The talk will discuss how this sacrificial goal demands sacrificial means to achieve it. Regiment and discipline are often seen as the path to instilling self-discipline in children. But are they? What about love?

Alvaro is originally from Santander, Spain. He is the Headmaster of The Heights School in Potomac, Maryland since July 2002. At The Heights he teaches Catholic Apologetics and mentors students daily.
He earned a BA in Political Philosophy from Georgetown University and his J.D. from Georgetown University School of Law.
He has given many talks and written many essays regarding different topics related to the education of boys that can be found on The Heights school forum.
He earned a BA in Political Philosophy from Georgetown University and his J.D. from Georgetown University School of Law.
He has given many talks and written many essays regarding different topics related to the education of boys that can be found on The Heights school forum.
December 5, 7:30 pm CST
Emotion Coaching: the Heart of Parenting
Lorena Yakovlev-Beltrán
Lorena Yakovlev-Beltrán
Mrs. Beltrán will talk about why good parenting needs to take emotions into account. She will teach us a proven and effective way to guide our children through their emotions and to build empathetic connections with them. Emotion coaching is the key to good relationships in the family and to raising confident and emotionally mature kids.

Lorena is a certified family counselor, grief recovery specialist, and life coach.
She has focused on the emotional side of people as a pivotal factor in self-esteem and family relationships.
She actively participates in various T.V. and radio talk shows.
Currently she offers one-on-one coaching sessions, the grief recovery program, as well as group seminars for parents, youth, and teachers. You can learn more about Lorena and her private practice by visiting her website: www.conexionesemocionales.com
She is a wife and a mother of five.
She has focused on the emotional side of people as a pivotal factor in self-esteem and family relationships.
She actively participates in various T.V. and radio talk shows.
Currently she offers one-on-one coaching sessions, the grief recovery program, as well as group seminars for parents, youth, and teachers. You can learn more about Lorena and her private practice by visiting her website: www.conexionesemocionales.com
She is a wife and a mother of five.
January 23, 7:30 pm CST
A Truly Human Sexuality: Educating for Love
Guido Caranti, MBA
Guido Caranti, MBA
Mr. Caranti will talk about the importance of developing in our children an adequate appreciation for their sexuality: its power to generate new life and to complete and enrich the love of husband and wife, and its power, when misused, to corrupt and ruin how they see and relate to others and themselves. He will discuss the crucial role that parents have in educating their children early in this area to prevent misconceptions, deviations, and addictions that can have lasting and very harmful effects on them and their families.

Guido holds an Industrial Engineering degree from the Instituto Tecnológico de Buenos Aires and an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin. He leads Private Equity and Real Asset investments for a Houston based family office. In spite of being fully immersed in the financial world, he finds time to study and learn more about human sexuality and other topics related to the family.
Guido is a member of the board of Texas Family Enrichment since 2015. He is a moderator and facilitates cases in different cities. He and his wife Pilar are the founders of Family Summer, a vacation for families in Beaver Creek, Colorado that started in 2015. Family Summer combines a family enrichment course, leisure, and outdoor adventures.
They have been married for 25 years and have 6 children, ages 24 through 13. Originally from Argentina, they have made Houston their home for the last 24 years.
Guido is a member of the board of Texas Family Enrichment since 2015. He is a moderator and facilitates cases in different cities. He and his wife Pilar are the founders of Family Summer, a vacation for families in Beaver Creek, Colorado that started in 2015. Family Summer combines a family enrichment course, leisure, and outdoor adventures.
They have been married for 25 years and have 6 children, ages 24 through 13. Originally from Argentina, they have made Houston their home for the last 24 years.
February 13, 7:30 pm CST
Parenting Pioneers: navigating the hyper-sexualized culture
Fr. Sean Kilcawley
Fr. Sean Kilcawley
Parents have always had the responsibility to educate children and guide them in their psycho-sexual development. However, parents today do this in a cultural context that has never existed before. With the average age of exposure to internet pornography being between 8-11 years old, and the average age of sexting (exchanging sexually explicit photos) being around 14 years old, parents have a challenge that our own parents never had to navigate. In this presentation, Fr Sean Kilcawley will educate parents about the dangers lurking in our hyper-sexualized culture and provide perspective, resources, and tools to assist parents in this most important task.

Fr. Sean currently serves the Diocese of Lincoln as the Director of the Office for Family Life. He was ordained a priest in 2005.
He is a certified Pastoral Sexual Addiction Practitioner through the International Institute for Trauma and Addictions Professionals.
He has focused his efforts on diocesan initiatives to prevent early exposure to pornography, and resources of intervention and healing for those affected by pornography to include: educating parents, running support groups for addicts and their spouses, educating clergy, and speaking at conferences on the best practices and resources for addressing pornography at the parish and diocesan level.
Before entering seminary he graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1996 and served for three years active duty as an Infantry Officer in the United States Army.
He is a certified Pastoral Sexual Addiction Practitioner through the International Institute for Trauma and Addictions Professionals.
He has focused his efforts on diocesan initiatives to prevent early exposure to pornography, and resources of intervention and healing for those affected by pornography to include: educating parents, running support groups for addicts and their spouses, educating clergy, and speaking at conferences on the best practices and resources for addressing pornography at the parish and diocesan level.
Before entering seminary he graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1996 and served for three years active duty as an Infantry Officer in the United States Army.
March 13, 7:30 pm CST
Helping Our Kids Navigate the Gender Ideology
Ana Samuel, Ph.D
Ana Samuel, Ph.D
Our children live in a world surrounded by gender ideology. As they grow, they have many questions about what it means to be gay, lesbian, or transgender, and how they should interact with their friends over these issues. She will answer some common questions that kids ask, provide parents with tips for being good listeners and truth-tellers, and offer further parent resources.

Ana is a graduate of Princeton University and the University of Notre Dame, where she completed doctoral work on the political theory and sexual ethics of Montesquieu.
She was the first executive director of the Witherspoon Institute at its foundation in 2003, and subsequently transitioned to a research and teaching role in 2010, focusing on research in family structure studies. She edited No Differences? How Children in Same-Sex Households Fare and directed the development of the New Family Structures Studies website.
In 2013, she helped to launch CanaVox, where she serves as Academic Director of the reading groups worldwide. Every summer, she enjoys teaching the dialogues of Plato and Aristotle's moral philosophy to high school students for the Witherspoon Institute's summer seminars.
She is a wife and a mother of six.
She was the first executive director of the Witherspoon Institute at its foundation in 2003, and subsequently transitioned to a research and teaching role in 2010, focusing on research in family structure studies. She edited No Differences? How Children in Same-Sex Households Fare and directed the development of the New Family Structures Studies website.
In 2013, she helped to launch CanaVox, where she serves as Academic Director of the reading groups worldwide. Every summer, she enjoys teaching the dialogues of Plato and Aristotle's moral philosophy to high school students for the Witherspoon Institute's summer seminars.
She is a wife and a mother of six.
April 17, 7:30 pm CST
Showing your Children that God has a Role in their Life
Tim Reckart, MBA, JD
Tim Reckart, MBA, JD
With teens and young adults leaving the Catholic faith at an alarming rate, a question vital to their salvation and to their parent’s salvation is how do I show them that God has a role in their life? Tim Reckart, a father of 6 children, will draw on his own experience in raising his children all of whom are adults and still practice their faith. He will explore this topic, drawing on Aristotle and the lives of modern saints, to suggest some practical approaches that parents might incorporate in the way they raise their children in the faith.

Tim Reckart is the husband to his beloved wife, Jane, of 37 years, and the father to 6 children all of whom are, thankfully, done with college and economically independent. Most importantly, each of them practices their faith.
He is an attorney by day that focuses on the formation and financing of emerging-growth companies and intellectual property transactions. He has drafted and negotiated hundreds of licenses, and regularly represents clients in a variety of legal matters, among them entity formation, capital structure, venture capital and private equity financing, and mergers and acquisitions.
Tim is a member of the Washington, DC Bar and the Arizona Bar, is registered to practice as a patent attorney before the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, and is a Certified Licensing Professional by the Licensing Executive Society. He holds a law degree and an MBA from Stanford University, a master’s degree in nuclear engineering from the University of California at Berkeley and a bachelor’s degree in nuclear engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
He is an attorney by day that focuses on the formation and financing of emerging-growth companies and intellectual property transactions. He has drafted and negotiated hundreds of licenses, and regularly represents clients in a variety of legal matters, among them entity formation, capital structure, venture capital and private equity financing, and mergers and acquisitions.
Tim is a member of the Washington, DC Bar and the Arizona Bar, is registered to practice as a patent attorney before the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, and is a Certified Licensing Professional by the Licensing Executive Society. He holds a law degree and an MBA from Stanford University, a master’s degree in nuclear engineering from the University of California at Berkeley and a bachelor’s degree in nuclear engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
May 8, 7:30 pm CST
Leading your family through cyberspace
Robert Dunikoski
Robert Dunikoski
Parents are understandably overwhelmed by the impact of the internet and related technologies on family life. One area of particular concern is the alarmingly high rate of pornography exposure during adolescence. This talk will discuss practical strategies and tools that parents can use to guide children in the use of technology and to keep them safe from online dangers. It will propose a path for ordering technology within the home, establishing clear lines of communication and monitoring practices, and helping other families.

Rob Dunikoski is an attorney with a federal law enforcement agency that investigates federal cybercrimes.
He graduated from Notre Dame Law School cum laude in 2005. While at Notre Dame, he served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics, and Public Policy.
After law school, he clerked for U.S. District Judge Jorge A. Solis. He then worked as a commercial litigation associate with DLA Piper, before joining the federal government in 2007.
Mr. Dunikoski lives in Irving, Texas, with his wife, Anna, and their five children.
He graduated from Notre Dame Law School cum laude in 2005. While at Notre Dame, he served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics, and Public Policy.
After law school, he clerked for U.S. District Judge Jorge A. Solis. He then worked as a commercial litigation associate with DLA Piper, before joining the federal government in 2007.
Mr. Dunikoski lives in Irving, Texas, with his wife, Anna, and their five children.