Barbara’s personal statement about her current work:

        “Being a seasoned professional I am able to accept the person for who they are and assist them to again find their strengths and beauty and support their journey towards balance and peace. I experience as an honor. With more than 20 years in the field, my personal journey, my resources are expansive.

        My approach is individual focused, meeting the person where they are and using method most likely to assist them as they move toward health, balance and peace. I am very experienced in many approaches.

        My personal life journey provides a richness in experiences and knowledge and acceptance of anyone where they are and the insights to help them find their strength and courage to move toward fully living the life they desire.”

        Barbara is a clinical social worker with a Rogerian and Humanistic approach. In plain language, she creates a safe, encouraging space to allow men and women to find their own meaning and direction, and to gain the self-confidence to move into their desired future. She has flexible hours and welcomes individuals seeking a safe place and process to discover and move into their future with confidence and joy.

        Barbara grew up in rural Michigan. She earned her MSW at Western Michigan University in 1975. She started her career in the state welfare system developing policies and training materials for foster care and adoption. She served on the team that implemented the state’s first child abuse and neglect law,and then as the first Special Grants Developer. Her innovative work using community-based processes took her into the national scene.

        In addition to individual and group clinical work, Barbara led several national demonstration projects focusing on community based processes. Her favorite, “Communities for Child Safety,” was based on three premises: 1) the community belongs to the people who live in it; 2) the people know the problems and will create the solutions, when they are allowed to; and 3) the people should celebrate the good they are doing. She was active in several nonprofit organizations, including Parents Anonymous, a parent-led, professionally-guided mutual support group.

        When Barbara moved back to Chicago in 2000, she developed a successful private practice, BAC Consulting. She works with both individuals and groups, and does assessments for the Department of Children and Family Services. She consults for several organizations, including local Community Integrated Living Arrangement programs for Adults with Development Disabilities and The Arts of Life, an innovative day program for adults with Developmental Disabilities. The following article appeared in their fall 2004 newsletter.

        Each edition profiles someone who has made our work stronger or more visible or easier. This profile is typically a volunteer, but in this issue we would like to honor Barbara Chamberlain, a very strong member of our community. Barbara is an LCSW and ACSW clinician who has brought years of clinical and administrative experience to our community. Barbara joins our community two mornings each week and facilitates a group discussion on community building and finding gifts we each have that will enable us to build stronger, more satisfying relationships with ourselves and each other. Our artists have responded so well to Barbara’s non-intrusive nurturing approach they can hardly wait for her arrival on those days.

        She is a mentor, a friend, and a very cherished part of our community. We just celebrated a year of this relationship and the progress is absolutely amazing…! Thank you Barbara for going beyond facilitating a group and really joining our studio and supporting our artists in their personal journeys as well as the movement of the studio. We couldn’t do it without you.

(To learn more about this work, go to their website at www.artsoflife.org).