Group Updates

As we enter July, Forgotten Voices marks its half way point. The past group sessions have been incredible. Session 2 focused on self esteem. This is highly important given that self esteem is a major resiliency factor for children who experience domestic violence. The session helped the children to realize how they are all unique individuals and concluded with the creation of an "I Am Special" poster, in which every child made their hand-print and wrote an adjective underneath to describe themselves. This poster has been, and will continue to be, hung up at every group session. Session 3 centered on emotions and feelings. The children were challenged to explore different emotions and talk about how these made them feel. Instead of saying, "I feel good," the children were encouraged to expand and use different words such as happy, enthusiastic, delighted, etc. The example of a "rainbow of feelings" helped the children to understand that we all go through different feelings, ranging from red (anger) to blue (sad) with a multitude in-between. The take home message was that all of our feelings are valid. Session 4 dealt with families. We talked about the similarities and differences in families. At the end of the session, each child was received "A Special Member Of My Family Award." This session emphasized that although families can be different, that is okay.

Given the half-way mark of the program, we held a special parenting session last week. This was a chance for parents to check in, voice concerns, learn more about their child's progress, and participate in a parental psycho-education component on the impact of trauma on children and parenting skills. The meeting was a huge success. It was projected to only last one hour, instead due to large parent involvement/participation, it nearly lasted two! These mothers have been such a pleasure to work with. Through their dedication, concern, and support of the program it is obvious how much they truly care for their children and are actively working to ensure their successful futures. I feel honored to be working in their presence.

The first half of Forgotten Voices has been a true success. For the second half, we will begin to wind down the group and begin focusing on developing a training program for future group facilitators. I feel confident that the second half of Forgotten Voices will continue to thrive and prosper :)