Expressive Arts Program Proposal for Youth Trauma Recovery

Information about Final Assignment - Expressive Arts Program Proposal

Both authors will share the same grade for the assignment unless you have contacted me in advance of the due date to express concern about a partner's contribution to the final product.

In this assignment, students will describe the key elements of an Expressive Arts Program that you as a CYC practitioner will implement for a selected group of youth who’ve experienced trauma. The program/activities will address impacts/manifestations/symptoms (the neuro-bio-psycho-social-cultural developmental consequences of trauma) associated with trauma as discussed in the course.

The proposal must explain how the program and activities are trauma-informed and should include a rationale for the program that is grounded in research (discuss how the proposed program/activities are trauma-informed and supported by the research that supports their efficacy).

You will provide an outline of 3 session topics and explain how they contribute to the overall goals of the program. You will also include a detailed sample of one of the Expressive Arts Activities (as an appendix) for your group of interest and explain specifically how this activity will address the impacts/manifestations of trauma within the group and how safety is to be maintained. The activity description should not exceed two pages.

What is an expressive arts activity?

Any activity that allows for creative expression. Any form of expression counts. For example, a Flash Mob might be an expressive arts program as is psychodrama, fine arts and spoken word and poetry.

The Format for the Assignment:

The outline will follow APA format and will be a maximum of 10 pages, double spaced, in 12-point font (Times New Roman) excluding the sample session plan, reference and cover pages. Please submit the paper in doc.x or rtf format rather than pdf so that grading comments can be inserted throughout the paper.

Below is the key information that needs to be contained in the assignment. You can use the points below as guidelines to help you develop headings to organize your paper.

An introduction that provides background and an overview of what follows in the document • What is the goal of the program; what needs, or issues are addressed by this expressive arts program; how will the program activities address those needs and why is it important to do so?

What evidence exists that this approach is effective in addressing the trauma impacts/manifestations that participants are experiencing?
- movement is a good alternative to talk therapy

For youth suffering the effects of early life trauma or neglect, CBT and other “head-first” approaches can be re-traumatizing (Perry, 2006)

Body-based therapies can help regulate this heart rate variability system and assist the person in gaining a sense of control of their mind and body. This means that the person will feel more in tune with their body, and be able to listen to it and provide it with what it needs. (powerpoint, 2023)

Who are the potential members of this group and how are they selected for participation? (what impacts/manifestations of trauma are participants experiencing)

- Young adults with past physical/sexual abuse

- 18-25?

- ptsd

How does this program take the developmental and learning needs of the potential participants into account?

What are the main strategies that will be used in the session(s) (mini-lectures, experiential activities, discussions, etc.) and how will safety be maintained?

safety is maintained through verbally asking for consent to touch a participant to correct or alter a yoga pose and no judgement if they need to leave for a few minutes or leave entirely.

calm white noise music will play during the sessions to

An outline of potential session topics for a minimum of 3 sessions, with a brief explanation of how the topic or focus for each session contributes to the overall goals of the program.

- provide a 20 week program and every week they complete a journal of noticing any changes to their bodies or minds then every 5 weeks they meet with a therapist on the team to reflect on the changes they have noticed over the last 5 weeks

- 1 hour sessions

- 10-15 people per class

Attach an example of one complete and detailed activity session and explain how it will address the impacts of trauma within the group, explicitly discussing how these have been considered within the activity planning and how safety is maintained. • A concluding section in which the key points are summarized, and the document is brought to a close.

I have used the book titled "The Body Keeps Score; Brain, mind and body in the healing of trauma By Bessel Van Der Kolk" Below are some quotes I found could be helpful, please use what you feel works.

Traumatized people need to learn that they can tolerate their sensations, befriend their inner experiences, and cultivate new action patterns (Van der kolk, p 275, 2015)

While numbing (or compensatory sensation seeking) may make life tolerable, the price you pay is that you lose awareness of what is going on inside your body and, with that, the sense of being fully, sensually alive. (Van der kolk, p 274, 2015)

Heart rate variability measures the relative balance between the sympathetic (SNS) and parasympathetic systems (PNS). When we inhale, we stimulate the SNS, which results in an increase in the heart rate. Exhalations stimulate the PNS, which decreases how fast the heart beats. (van der kolk, p 269, 2015)

In other words, in PTSD the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems are out of sync (van der kolk, p 269, 2015) - has a foot note that it is from J.W. Hopper, et al., "Preliminary evidence of parasympathetic influence on basal heat rate in posttraumatic stress disorder" Journal of Psychosomatic Research 60, no. 1 (2006):83-90 (i dont think this is APA so please adjust accordingly)

Hiding your core feelings takes an enormous amount of energy, it saps your motivation to pursue worthwhile goals, and it leaves you feeling bored and shut down. (Van der kolk, p 235, 2015)

Anyone who enters talk therapy, however, almost immediately confronts the limitations of lanuage. (Van der Kolk, p 237, 2015)