As I have mentioned in my previous blogs the art group that I run on Sundays has a social skills segment which is used as a means towards which the girls that attend are able to express themselves to their peers and make relational connections with them. This past week we had the girls create a 3-dimentional model of a person. The guidelines for the sculpture were that it had to be a person with a name and a story to go along with it.
S.E: Remember girls, it must be able to stand, if you have trouble with this let either Andrea of myself know and we will help you.
There was silence at this point and three out of the six girls took some clay and starting molding. After about two minutes of this silence.
S.E: If you can’t think of anything to make then just start playing with the clay and something make develop just by doing that.
At this point there was some murmuring amongst two of the girls but no one else was really interacting with each other. This was to be expected since it was presented as a project to be done on your own and there needed to be a story behind it.
When it came time to present Dina, went first.
Dina: Mine is a boy named Ben, and he ran away from home because he wanted to be a magician and his parents wouldn’t let him. So here he is with his magician hat and a rabbit coming out of the hat. That’s it.
S.E: Wow! That is super creative, thank you for sharing that with us Dina. Esti, would you like to go next?
Esti: I didn’t know what to make, so I made this.
S.E: It’s a doctor, right?
Esti: Yeah
S.E: Does the doctor have a name?
Esti: No
S.E: Is it male or female?
Dina: It’s male.
S.E: Is the Doctor’s name Dr. [Her last name]
There is some chuckling in the group.
S.E: Thank you for sharing that with us Esti, it is very well done. Henny, are you ready to go next?
Henny: No, I’m not finished yet
S.E: How about you Yael?
Yael: Mine is a boy named Shimmy and he is playing ball because it makes him happy.
S.E: Yael, that is some wonderful detail you have going on there. Thank you for telling us about your sculpture.
We had the rest of the girls present their sculptures just as the ones above did and then we all got up and walked around to view each other’s work.
There are two noteworthy things to mention at this point. Yael has not volunteered to speak ever before and with no more prompting than the other girls had she told us about her sculpture in a clear voice without any hesitation. It was shorter than the other girls’ explanation about theirs but this was such a marked difference from the previous weeks that it bears mentioning.
The second noteworthy event was that after this activity there was another increase in how many interactions there were between the girls. The number definitely went up but the truth is that it was mostly between two of the girls and was not evenly distributed among the five that were there this past week.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Intervention
My behavior modification goal for the group of adolescent girls I teach art to on Sundays is that of individual interaction between group members, in other words, group cohesion. I am trying to increase how often each girl interacts with another member of the group during our sessions. The group meets once a week for an hour and a half; the first half hour is devoted to an art therapy exercise and the rest of the time is devoted to learning how to draw. The art therapy aspect allows the children to express something of themselves to the group which we hope will promote a sense of group cohesion. Each of the art therapy exercises is geared towards interacting with another member of the group or expressing a personal hope or characteristic to the group as a whole. “Putting a problem on paper can make it seem more external, rendering it easier to deal with” (Hutson, 2007, p. 26). When we ask the girls to talk about what has been going on for them at home or at school we get very short answers that are formal and impersonal. The art expression allows room for the girls to become more personal without the risk of being the only one doing it since all of the group’s members have to participate.
Membership, acceptance, and approval in various groups are of the utmost importance in the individual’s developmental sequence. The importance of belonging to childhood peer groups…can hardly be overestimated. Nothing seems to be of greater importance for the self-esteem and well being of the adolescent, for example, than to be included and accepted in some social group, and nothing more devastating than exclusion (Yalom, Leszcz, 2005, pg. 57).
For the next hour we focus on learning to draw; this part of the session allows my fellow intern and I to interact with the girls individually, observe them at somewhat of a distance, and it allows the girls to talk among themselves and form their own bonds within the group. Producing a work of art has its own rewards which Dr. Lefkowitz, the director of the FCU (Family Crisis Unit), uses as the reason to justify keeping the art groups running to the board of directors. That reason is “producing something gives people a sense of control and enhances self esteem” (Hutson, 2007, p. 26). Dr. Lefkowitz is also a big supporter of giving these children something normal in their otherwise dysfunctional lives to look forward to.
Each of the exercises we employ we adapt to the communal concerns and taboos. For instance this past week the exercise we chose to use was for each girl to draw a picture of themselves as a super hero. This presented a problem for this particular group of girls who all come from ultra orthodox homes within the Jewish community. The problem would be that they are not supposed to watch television and the idea of possessing “magic” is also problematic religiously. For instance, the Harry Potter books by J.K Rowling are banned from many schools because of its magical content. Instead we had them draw a gift basket for the holiday of Purim. We explained that it could be a basket that they would like to receive or give and it could be filled with anything they could think of. We told them it could be an emotion, money, a food with a special power etc. In this way the project made sense within their religious context and was appropriately timed since Purim would be the next evening. The girls had no problem drawing or understanding what we were talking about and had no objection with the magical aspect of the exercise. They did have some trouble sharing their picture with the group but everyone did share and we hope this will become easier for the group members as time goes on.
Traditional developmental literature states that the tasks of adolescents are to attain self-identity and independence. Female models of development call for the need to help adolescent females rediscover their voices in an environment of connectedness. Connectedness, or cohesion, is an integral part of group counseling. Socialization needs to occur within a cultural context, especially at adolescence (Muller, 2000, p. 264).
Franz Alexander’s theory of the corrective emotional experience is what I am using to support my use of a safe social environment with a peer group to enhance the girl’s social connectedness. The theory stems from psychoanalytic theory and purports that exposure to emotional situations that in the past have been difficult to handle can be therapeutically used under more favorable circumstances. This allows the client to internalize the positive experience and transfer it to their every day interactions (Yalom & Leszcz, 2005).
References
Hutson, M. (2007). The Healing Arts. Psychology Today , 26.
Muller, L. E. (2000). A 12-session, European-American-led counseling group for African American
females. Professional School Counseling , 264-270.
Yalom, I. D., & Leszcz, M. (2005). The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy Fifth Edition. New
York: Basic Books.
Membership, acceptance, and approval in various groups are of the utmost importance in the individual’s developmental sequence. The importance of belonging to childhood peer groups…can hardly be overestimated. Nothing seems to be of greater importance for the self-esteem and well being of the adolescent, for example, than to be included and accepted in some social group, and nothing more devastating than exclusion (Yalom, Leszcz, 2005, pg. 57).
For the next hour we focus on learning to draw; this part of the session allows my fellow intern and I to interact with the girls individually, observe them at somewhat of a distance, and it allows the girls to talk among themselves and form their own bonds within the group. Producing a work of art has its own rewards which Dr. Lefkowitz, the director of the FCU (Family Crisis Unit), uses as the reason to justify keeping the art groups running to the board of directors. That reason is “producing something gives people a sense of control and enhances self esteem” (Hutson, 2007, p. 26). Dr. Lefkowitz is also a big supporter of giving these children something normal in their otherwise dysfunctional lives to look forward to.
Each of the exercises we employ we adapt to the communal concerns and taboos. For instance this past week the exercise we chose to use was for each girl to draw a picture of themselves as a super hero. This presented a problem for this particular group of girls who all come from ultra orthodox homes within the Jewish community. The problem would be that they are not supposed to watch television and the idea of possessing “magic” is also problematic religiously. For instance, the Harry Potter books by J.K Rowling are banned from many schools because of its magical content. Instead we had them draw a gift basket for the holiday of Purim. We explained that it could be a basket that they would like to receive or give and it could be filled with anything they could think of. We told them it could be an emotion, money, a food with a special power etc. In this way the project made sense within their religious context and was appropriately timed since Purim would be the next evening. The girls had no problem drawing or understanding what we were talking about and had no objection with the magical aspect of the exercise. They did have some trouble sharing their picture with the group but everyone did share and we hope this will become easier for the group members as time goes on.
Traditional developmental literature states that the tasks of adolescents are to attain self-identity and independence. Female models of development call for the need to help adolescent females rediscover their voices in an environment of connectedness. Connectedness, or cohesion, is an integral part of group counseling. Socialization needs to occur within a cultural context, especially at adolescence (Muller, 2000, p. 264).
Franz Alexander’s theory of the corrective emotional experience is what I am using to support my use of a safe social environment with a peer group to enhance the girl’s social connectedness. The theory stems from psychoanalytic theory and purports that exposure to emotional situations that in the past have been difficult to handle can be therapeutically used under more favorable circumstances. This allows the client to internalize the positive experience and transfer it to their every day interactions (Yalom & Leszcz, 2005).
References
Hutson, M. (2007). The Healing Arts. Psychology Today , 26.
Muller, L. E. (2000). A 12-session, European-American-led counseling group for African American
females. Professional School Counseling , 264-270.
Yalom, I. D., & Leszcz, M. (2005). The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy Fifth Edition. New
York: Basic Books.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
My Client
I have decided to evaluate the group of adolescent girls which I teach art to on Sundays for my agency. This is the second art group for adolescent girls that my agency sponsors; it was created due to my suggestion which was to maximize the amount of children we can help and save money at the same time. The six girls that attend the class are between the ages of 11-14, they all come from dysfunctional homes with a myriad of financial and emotional problems. I know very little about their home life, I have deliberately decided not to know in order to give them a chance to make this social encounter as close to what would happen in the real world as possible. In this way I can get a baseline that reflects their natural behavior patterns. I want them to disclose as much as they would to anyone else without me prompting them based on prior knowledge. I have not told the girls that they are being evaluated since they and their families are skittish when it comes to therapy. By couching the socialization in an art group it has allowed us to give many young women the opportunity to feel normal and interact with their peers in a non-threatening environment that is supportive. Another reason for not telling the girls or their parents we are evaluating the group is because two months ago we wanted to give one of the girls in the original group a big sister once a week. When we broached the subject with her mother she inferred that this is not just an art class and took her out of the group. Therapy is a sensitive topic within the Jewish Orthodox community, it is not widely accepted yet and there is a lot of stigma attached to it.
Using single system design to measure my effectiveness as group leader within this group that I have autonomy over is the most responsible way I can think of to show my supervisor how things are progressing within the group. My supervisor is looking forward to my results and is happy that I am incorporating what I am learning in class into my practice. Single system design is useful for four reasons; the first reason is it links practice and evaluation making it one activity to assist the helping professional. The second reason is it evaluates whether the desired changes have occurred and the third reason builds on the second by evaluating whether the practitioner’s intervention could be causally linked to these observed changes. The fourth reason is it enables the practitioner to compare the effectiveness of different interventions at a later date. (Bloom, Fischer, & Orme, 2006) Test-retest reliability, which means measuring the same group of people with the same measure on two different occasions, is another reason single system design effective as a measuring tool. By directly observing the behavior of the group on many different occasions and keeping a log one can measure (allowing for human error) the effectiveness of their practice. (Bloom, et al, 2006)
My goal for the group is group cohesion; I plan on measuring this by counting the amount of times each girl interacts with another member of the group. Since the group is comprised of six girls I should be able to keep track of this with relative accuracy based on how accurate direct observation is while accounting for human error. Since I will always be the one teaching the art lesson and more often than not instructing the girls during the social skills set this may prove somewhat difficult. Foreseeing this I have decided to incorporate interobserver reliability, this means I will be having my co-interns who take turns coming to the group help me count the number of interactions at the same time that I am counting to make sure our numbers are the same. (Bloom, et al, 2006)
The validity of this particular study should be simple to determine since it is not up to the client to answer any questions that they may not understand or may be in denial concerning. The only error I will have to be wary of is that of my own direct observational skills. (Bloom, et al, 2006)
Using single system design to measure my effectiveness as group leader within this group that I have autonomy over is the most responsible way I can think of to show my supervisor how things are progressing within the group. My supervisor is looking forward to my results and is happy that I am incorporating what I am learning in class into my practice. Single system design is useful for four reasons; the first reason is it links practice and evaluation making it one activity to assist the helping professional. The second reason is it evaluates whether the desired changes have occurred and the third reason builds on the second by evaluating whether the practitioner’s intervention could be causally linked to these observed changes. The fourth reason is it enables the practitioner to compare the effectiveness of different interventions at a later date. (Bloom, Fischer, & Orme, 2006) Test-retest reliability, which means measuring the same group of people with the same measure on two different occasions, is another reason single system design effective as a measuring tool. By directly observing the behavior of the group on many different occasions and keeping a log one can measure (allowing for human error) the effectiveness of their practice. (Bloom, et al, 2006)
My goal for the group is group cohesion; I plan on measuring this by counting the amount of times each girl interacts with another member of the group. Since the group is comprised of six girls I should be able to keep track of this with relative accuracy based on how accurate direct observation is while accounting for human error. Since I will always be the one teaching the art lesson and more often than not instructing the girls during the social skills set this may prove somewhat difficult. Foreseeing this I have decided to incorporate interobserver reliability, this means I will be having my co-interns who take turns coming to the group help me count the number of interactions at the same time that I am counting to make sure our numbers are the same. (Bloom, et al, 2006)
The validity of this particular study should be simple to determine since it is not up to the client to answer any questions that they may not understand or may be in denial concerning. The only error I will have to be wary of is that of my own direct observational skills. (Bloom, et al, 2006)
References
Bloom, M., Fischer, J., & Orme, J. G. (2006). Evaluating Practice, Guidlines for the Accountable Professional, Fifth Edition. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
My Agency
The Boro Park Bikur Cholem (Guardians of the Sick) Family Crisis Unit is a non-profit grassroots organization that caters to families with children under the age of 18 that are experiencing difficulties. This can be anything from the children are having trouble socializing with others to abuse or financial difficulties. Their clientele are orthodox Jews from the Boro Park, Flatbush, and Crownheights regions of Brooklyn. The department consists of our director, Dr. Lefkowitz who is a licensed psychologist, Sara Pries, and Esty Klien, our volunteer coordinators. The agency is charity and grant supported and a lot of the work done in our unit is fulfilled by volunteers and interns. We have volunteers functioning as big brothers and big sisters for children as well as guides and helpers for parents who are overwhelmed with their current situation in life.
There is no fee for services and many of the clients end up dropping our services when we have given them the help they were seeking at that moment but will many times calls the agency again when they need more help. This usually means they need money from the agency. Many of the cases that are referred to us are families that have not asked for the help directly and many times we run into a lot of opposition when trying to give the help. This does not mean we go into homes and decide they are having problems and try to force them into fixing them. It means that a parent is either physically or mentally disabled and the children are seen to be suffering by their neighbors and schools and we would like to help them in any way we can. When a case if referred to our unit protocol is as follows; Dr. Lefkowitz, Sara Pries, or Esty Klien will go to the families’ home after an initial phone call that sets up an appointment to meet. Their initial assessment then filters down to the intern or volunteer who will be appointed to the case and a plan will be developed and followed up on during our bi-weekly group supervision meetings.
The programs the Family Crisis Unit sponsors are as follows: a parenting workshop with a guest speaker that meets bi-weekly, two art classes for adolescent girls from underprivileged homes, and another class of the same kind for adolescent boys. The art classes meet weekly on Sundays and are an hour and a half long. For the first half hour there is a social skills game and the next hour is devoted to their individual art work. My fellow interns and I take turns in preparing the social skills game and we each show up weekly to help the girls with their art and through that help give them the tools to feel confident in their work and consequently themselves. The art class is a financial drain on the agency because of the venue in which the classes are given. Our director constantly has to fight to keep the program running. In light of this I suggested we stop using the venue the agency currently uses and have the art classes at the agency building with myself and fellow interns as art teacher and social skills coordinators. Since I have formal art training the art aspect would not present any problems. Dr. Lefkowitz liked the idea but was contractually obligated to finish the year at the current venue. At this point it was just the one art class for the girls and another for the boys. The second art class formed as a result of this discussion and has just had its first week this past Sunday.
The girls that attended were between the ages of 11-14 and were shy and gave short answers when asked open ended questions. We had an ice breaker activity that consisted of the girls drawing the first letter of their name on a piece of paper and decorating it. They then had to think of a word that started with that letter that described a part of themselves. I was happy when all of the words were positive ones but that also may be because we do not know each other well enough for them to test the waters with more neutral or less positive adjectives. Since I did not know the artistic skill level of the girls attending prior to this week I taught them to draw some simple cartoons by Ed Emberly that anyone can draw if you know how to make letters, numbers, and basic shapes. They each complied and drew each of the cartoon animals but did not say much during the drawing time even when prompted with jokes and our light hearted demeanor. I have surmised that the girls at this point need more structure in the class and to those ends have started to put together a lesson plan that will teach them art formally. I am hoping that the class will become less formal and more group in feel as time goes on. My main goal at this point is group cohesion. If the girls can learn to trust each other as a group then discussions about fears and hopes can be broached and therapeutic work can be done. I would classify this as preventative social care giving since I do not know the girls at this point and have not perceived any serious psychological problems. My goals may change according to what happens in the next few weeks.
There is no fee for services and many of the clients end up dropping our services when we have given them the help they were seeking at that moment but will many times calls the agency again when they need more help. This usually means they need money from the agency. Many of the cases that are referred to us are families that have not asked for the help directly and many times we run into a lot of opposition when trying to give the help. This does not mean we go into homes and decide they are having problems and try to force them into fixing them. It means that a parent is either physically or mentally disabled and the children are seen to be suffering by their neighbors and schools and we would like to help them in any way we can. When a case if referred to our unit protocol is as follows; Dr. Lefkowitz, Sara Pries, or Esty Klien will go to the families’ home after an initial phone call that sets up an appointment to meet. Their initial assessment then filters down to the intern or volunteer who will be appointed to the case and a plan will be developed and followed up on during our bi-weekly group supervision meetings.
The programs the Family Crisis Unit sponsors are as follows: a parenting workshop with a guest speaker that meets bi-weekly, two art classes for adolescent girls from underprivileged homes, and another class of the same kind for adolescent boys. The art classes meet weekly on Sundays and are an hour and a half long. For the first half hour there is a social skills game and the next hour is devoted to their individual art work. My fellow interns and I take turns in preparing the social skills game and we each show up weekly to help the girls with their art and through that help give them the tools to feel confident in their work and consequently themselves. The art class is a financial drain on the agency because of the venue in which the classes are given. Our director constantly has to fight to keep the program running. In light of this I suggested we stop using the venue the agency currently uses and have the art classes at the agency building with myself and fellow interns as art teacher and social skills coordinators. Since I have formal art training the art aspect would not present any problems. Dr. Lefkowitz liked the idea but was contractually obligated to finish the year at the current venue. At this point it was just the one art class for the girls and another for the boys. The second art class formed as a result of this discussion and has just had its first week this past Sunday.
The girls that attended were between the ages of 11-14 and were shy and gave short answers when asked open ended questions. We had an ice breaker activity that consisted of the girls drawing the first letter of their name on a piece of paper and decorating it. They then had to think of a word that started with that letter that described a part of themselves. I was happy when all of the words were positive ones but that also may be because we do not know each other well enough for them to test the waters with more neutral or less positive adjectives. Since I did not know the artistic skill level of the girls attending prior to this week I taught them to draw some simple cartoons by Ed Emberly that anyone can draw if you know how to make letters, numbers, and basic shapes. They each complied and drew each of the cartoon animals but did not say much during the drawing time even when prompted with jokes and our light hearted demeanor. I have surmised that the girls at this point need more structure in the class and to those ends have started to put together a lesson plan that will teach them art formally. I am hoping that the class will become less formal and more group in feel as time goes on. My main goal at this point is group cohesion. If the girls can learn to trust each other as a group then discussions about fears and hopes can be broached and therapeutic work can be done. I would classify this as preventative social care giving since I do not know the girls at this point and have not perceived any serious psychological problems. My goals may change according to what happens in the next few weeks.
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