I am scheduled to do a class in September with teens. How would you adapt the HealthRhythms protocol for doing a 6-week session with boys and girls ages 13-17? I will be targeting stress relief in school. Thanks.
I am in the process of completing a six week session with 20 adolescent males and already completed two sessions with 10 boys and girls ages 7 - 12; all of whom are in out-of-home care with extensive and diverse trauma histories. I stuck with the protocol, with minor adjustments to fit the mood of each group. The most recent group with the adolescent males has been interesting because they hit the ground running for the first two groups and then we hit a slight wall. I found that by giving them opportunities outside of the protocol that were appealling to them they flourished. One "game" we played had two chairs in the center of the circle. Two at a time the boys would sit in teh chairs and communicate to each other, while the group kept a quiet simple beat. This seemed to take the stress off of them being the center of attention and opened many of the more resistant youth to participating. Concurrently, I found that this was an excellent way to gadge stress and anger management. Remember: The boys in this group are all in out-of-home care. The trauma and general histories of these youth are quite extensive. No one (knock on wood) became aggressive or inappropriate during the sessions. We have one left next week. If you like, I can let you know how the wrap-up goes. Hope this helps!
When I was at the training in LA I heard someone at the advanced training talk of using colored gem stones with their troubled teens. I thought the idea was great, providing the participants with a reminder all week of what they worked on in each session. Trouble is I can only remember the colors (green, red, blue, clear) but not totally how they were used. If you were there I think it truly fits this thread and I too am facing a situation that I think this would really work.
In response to Nellie, I believe that Dr. Bittman had talked about using the jewel metaphor with his research - and it will be published this week! If it does not explain within the research study, perhaps you can ask him directly. Good luck!
Alyssa
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Location: California
If you have questions about the adolescent protocol there is a discussion forum which is monitored by one of the adolescent protocol trainers in the facilitator site. If you're HealthRHYTHMS trained, login the "Facilitator Login" and go to the Facilitator Support Network.
Alyssa Janney, MBA Health Rhythms Manager Remo, Inc.
I am in the process of completing a six week session with 20 adolescent males and already completed two sessions with 10 boys and girls ages 7 - 12; all of whom are in out-of-home care with extensive and diverse trauma histories. I stuck with the protocol, with minor adjustments to fit the mood of each group. The most recent group with the adolescent males has been interesting because they hit the ground running for the first two groups and then we hit a slight wall. I found that by giving them opportunities outside of the protocol that were appealling to them they flourished. One "game" we played had two chairs in the center of the circle. Two at a time the boys would sit in teh chairs and communicate to each other, while the group kept a quiet simple beat.
Just wanted to let the folks in this thread know we are offering our HealthRHYTHMS Adolescent Protocol training now at each training we offer in the United States. You can get more information about it at:
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No. 1 Posted on Jun 2, 2009 6:51 AM
