June Reflection

I am extremely happy with the initial start and success of Forgotten Voices. Starting in May, I researched extensively for 3 weeks. I delved further into the study of domestic violence, especially its effects pertaining to children. Of particular note, I completed a Child and Domestic Violence Training Series through the Center for Child and Family Health. Lastly, I investigated the newest, empirical treatment methods: Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (Cohen, Mannarino, & Deblinger, 2006), Group Treatment for Children Who Witness Woman Abuse (Loosley, Bentley, Lehman, Marshall, Rabenstein, & Sudermann, 1997), Structured Psychotherapy for Adolescents Responding to Chronic Stress (DeRosa, Habib, Pelcovitz, Rathus, Sonnenklar, Ford, et al., 2006), and Alternatives for Families: A Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (Kolko, 2002). Components of these methods have been incorporated into our new coping skills program: Forgotten Voices.

To be honest, the biggest challenge for me has been to not overstep my boundaries. I am NOT a trained clinician. And this is NOT a therapy group. Forgotten Voices is a coping skills group, that untrained clinician can facilitate to children experiencing times of transition and change (ex. domestic violence, transitional housing, etc). Thankfully, I have a wonderful support group through Ardith Burkes (Community Mentor), Bob Pleasants (Faculty Mentor), and Nicole Heilbron (UNC Clinical Psychology), who have all helped me to understand my limits. This collaboration has resulted in the creation of a new program (Forgotten Voices), which utilizes empirically supported treatment program components, for untrained clinicians to administer. This work has definitely further fueled my desire to become a therapist, further reinforcing that this line of work is my life calling.

Having completed the pre-group interviews with both moms and children and Session 1, my biggest surprise has been the overwhelming amount of support and participation, we have received from both the mothers and the children. I have facilitated 4 coping skills groups in the past. This group, by far, possesses the most engaged mothers. To be fair, we have changed components of the program, strongly emphasizing communication between facilitators and mothers. However, even with this new focus, I have been pleasantly surprised by the overwhelming interest these mothers have taken. I truly hope that the enthusiasm continues throughout the program's development.

In general, the scope of the program has changed slightly. Initially, I had thought that from the very beginning I would be advertising at schools and local agencies in order to recruit children. However, the Family Violence Prevention Center and I decided that instead it would first be better to focus on creating a sustainable and well-researched program. Second, we would test it at a familiar location which we have worked with in the past. Last, we will conduct more recruiting, especially with DSS (Department of Social Services), at the end of the summer, once we have the results from the success of our group (pre and post evaluation measures are being conducted) and a solid program created and finalized.

Overall, Forgotten Voices has been a success. I am extremely happy with the progress made thus far. I look forward to seeing how the rest of the summer progresses, ready to tackle new challenges and embrace pleasant surprises.