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Creative Therapy And Adolescents: Emotion Regulation And Recognition In A Psycho-Educational Group For 9th Grade Students, Stacey Smith-Israel

Social Work Theses

Adolescence is a great opportunity for researchers to examine emotion regulation because of the physical, psychological, and social transformations that occur during this developmental stage. Adolescents that lack emotion regulation capabilities are more prone to expressions of anger, which commonly yield further symptoms of aggression, depression, and drug use. Factors contributing to low levels of emotion regulation during adolescence include stress, influence of childhood, parental influence, and maltreatment. A pre and post test were used to examine the effects of anger in a seven week creative therapy group for ten 9th grade students in a small, public high school in …

De-Masking The Silence - Drama Therapy: For Children With Asd, Joshua M. Galligan

Theses and Dissertations

This dynamic form of pedagogy attempts to cross the interdisciplinary boundaries between theatre, psychology, and modern medicine. What I attempt to present in this thesis is a systematic developmental framework for the theoretical use of drama therapy with children suffering from Autism Spectrum Disorder. This approach has been based on in-depth interdisciplinary study which makes use of the most current research looking at the neurological makeup of the autistic brain. This systematic approach examines the mirror neuron system which has been labeled as a major defect in children with ASD. Through the use of theatrical techniques such as acting, movement, …

The Use Of Expressive Therapies And Social Support With Youth In Foster Care: The Performing Arts Troupe, Audra Holmes Greene, Linda Goldenberg, Madelyn Freundlich

Journal of Youth Development

The Performing Arts Troupe is a program that provides youth in foster care and youth from low income neighborhoods with expressive therapies and social support. The program is designed to assist youth in addressing the effects of trauma and developing competencies as they prepare to transition to adulthood. The article discusses the literature base for the program, the program activities and describes the impact of the program on youth through preliminary evaluations and case studies. The program offers an innovative combination of expressive therapies and social supports that has effectively met the needs of vulnerable youth.

"I Feel Fat" : How Do Therapists Help Recovering Female Anorectic Clients Overcome Body Image Issues?, Holly G. Light

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This study was undertaken to explore how therapists help their adult, female anorectic clients (who are post-medical stabilization and have committed to some therapeutic level of treatment and recovery) overcome body image issues related to the pursuit of thinness prescribed by Western culture and the media. Through interviews with ten therapists who had extensive experience working with anorectic women in recovery, this exploratory study examined clinicians' experiences with clients' body image issues and chief complaints, their strategies for treating the body image disturbance in their clients, their perceptions of what factors help someone to fully recover and what the most …

The Movement’S Message: Dance/Movement Therapy & Children With Autism, Mariah M. Lefeber

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

Movement is a language. For children affected by autism, movement may be the only language they can rely on. Children with autism often have limited verbal abilities, making it extremely difficult for them to reach out (Hartshorn et al., 2001). When words fail, dance/movement therapy fosters a child’s ability to relate, communicate, and connect on a nonverbal level. This chapter will outline the use of dance/movement therapy with children on the autism spectrum. Specifically, it will introduce concepts of movement analysis and examine the potential in using movement-based assessments to create therapy goals and movement interventions for practical application.

This …

Practitioners' Views Of Effective Treatment Options For Childhood Trauma, Mary Sue Storie

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

In today’s society the number of children who experience childhood trauma is increasing significantly. As a result of this increase, the number of people seeking treatment is also on the rise. For this study, data were collected using both qualitative interviews (N=10) and an online quantitative survey (N=32). Practitioners’ views of effectiveness ranged from both more traditional treatments to emerging alternative treatments. Recent knowledge from brain research shows trauma impacts both the left and right side of the brain. Many practitioners noted effective treatment needs to be comprehensive. This is supported by literature recommending modalities that work with the effect …