DERBY - The Parent Child Resource Center has received a $4,000 grant from Valley United Way to provide drama therapy programming within its Intensive Outpatient Program.
The program serves children and adolescents ages 6 to 18 with mental health issues.
PCRC is one of seven Connecticut agencies who participated in a learning collaborative with Creative Alternatives of New York to implement this proven and innovative therapy, which clinicians use to help kids identify their feelings using acting and metaphors.
“Drama therapy is a proven method of treatment for children’s mental health, which has truly enhanced our IOP over the years. In partnering with Valley United Way, PCRC will be able to grow this important programming that enables children to thrive in our community,” said Michael Wynne, Chief Executive Officer at PCRC.
Approximately 80 percent of the children in the IOP have experienced some form of serious trauma, many coming from struggling families and, in some cases, have had frequent changes in the location and condition of their home life.
Children who have experienced trauma are commonly unable to accurately identify and express their emotions. Drama Therapy is an evidence-based method, proven to help children unlock those emotions in a progressive and positive way.
Clinicians and group leaders encourage children to play roles as they act out scenes. Children are, then, able to say, “I am like this person in this way,” or “I don’t like when this person acts this way, because it hurts people.” Younger children especially enjoy playing villains or heroes where it is appropriate for them to express negativity, because they are merely demonstrating the feelings of their character.
Skilled clinicians will help them understand their reactions to such feelings and their context in daily life.
Drama Therapy has proven its effectiveness within groups at PCRC. Likewise, Drama Therapy training is useful for clinicians. IOP Coordinator Laini Minalga said, “In the first year of Drama Therapy training, I grew more as a ‘clinician in the room’ than at any other time. I learned to be comfortable going with the feelings of the group, even when they were negative by having the group act out what they were feeling and discuss it in a collective manner.”
According to the CANY Training Manual (2014), “The CANY model is rooted in the belief that the group itself serves as the therapeutic agent, meeting the maturational needs of its members through the reparative relationships that are formed and played out in the group. The interactive process of creating stories and building dramas offers opportunities for connection, interpersonal identification and the development and restoration of relationships of trust in the here-and-now of the group.”
In the 2015 year, this training served an average of 105 children in the IOP program, a number that is expected to be matched in the coming year.
With this funding from Valley United Way, PCRC will have four new CANY-trained clinicians. These monies will also cover the costs of a certification fee, trainings and general funding necessary to provide this therapy.
The PCRC Intensive Outpatient Program serves children ages 6 to 18 experiencing difficulty meeting school, family or social expectations due to serious emotional, behavioral and social disturbances. Children attend daily group sessions emphasizing problem-solving and relaxation skills, emotional expression, learning how emotions and actions work together and how to identify and change behavioral and social disturbances.
This is a press release from the Parent Child Resource Center.
