|
|
| | | | | |
 |
|
S.A.G.E. (Support for Adoptees in a Group Environment) is an interactive art workshop developed and facilitated by Therese Kallstrom and Cathy Bolton. This group workshop is intended to increase communication amongst adoptive adolescents in a peer setting. The main focus is to provide a forum for support by giving these children a voice through the creative process and social interaction.
Adoptive children and their families often face a myriad of challenges due to their unique situations. Some professionals discount the effects of adoption upon children neglecting issues that have long-term effects on their emotional and psychological wellness. Being aware of the potentially higher risk of this population can allow the adoptive parent/s to be proactive and circumvent serious difficulties in the child’s normal psychological and social development. (Verrier, 2005). |
|
Concerns Frequently Faced by Adoptive Children
- Trust, attachment, intimacy and relationships
- Fear of rejection, abandonment, expressed as neediness or aloofness
- Anxiety and physiological responses due to stress and inability to express feelings
- Withdrawal and isolation
- Mood swings, exaggerated behaviors and acting out
- Need to regain control
- Inability to express inner feelings to family
- Difficulty expressing emotions due to inexperience and age
|
According to adoption specialists (Verrier, Riley, Meeks), these issues are often latent or unexpressed during early childhood and only resurface during early adolescence when children normally explore their identity and individuality. Teaching adoptive children to express their feelings at an early age by learning age-appropriate communication tools can avoid complications during their teen years and later in their lives.
Therese Kallstrom and Cathy Bolton have created an eight-week interactive group workshop to address these issues that commonly arise for adolescent adoptive children. The purpose of this workshop is to teach the children communication skills and allow them to connect with peers in similar family situations. Our program is based on a strength, wellness and empowerment model, focusing on the idea that children learn and explore more readily through positive feedback from peers and facilitators. These workshops focus on encouraging the adoptive children to embrace their feelings and be empowered by the ability to express their uniqueness and individuality.
This program is not designed as group “therapy” in the traditional sense, as it approaches these children in a lighter, no pressure method. The workshop provides a safe, media rich environment, for your child to have great fun while communicating through art projects. As facilitators, we believe that your children hold the intuitive knowledge to their own wholeness and wellbeing. We encourage self-exploration as it is creates confidence, increases communication skills and ultimately a respect and acceptance for our differences. Aside from the benefits of the processing during the actual workshops, your children will bring home an “adoption related” art project that will facilitate further communication between parent/s and child. |
 |
Mission statement: It is our intention as group facilitators to provide a fun, safe and supportive environment for adolescent adoptees to explore their identity, increase self-awareness and learn effective communication skills using art and creativity as a modality.
Goals;
- To create an environment that is safe, fun and supportive for your child
- To enable your child to explore adoption issues without pressure
- To provide a social setting where your child can connect to their peers with similar family situations to help them realize that they are not alone
- To encourage pride in your child’s uniqueness and individuality
- To provide a non-verbal medium, the art work, for adoptees to express questions and concerns they may have regarding adoption and identity
- To allow your child to communicate feelings about their adoption that they may otherwise find difficult to share with family or friends
- To help your child learn skills to effectively communicate feelings, emotions and concerns
- To empower your child through positive interaction and feedback
- To further enable your child to communicate with you through their art-work
|
 |
Location and Time:
The workshop will be presented on Thursday evenings from 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. (tentative time) starting April 6, ’06, for eight consecutive weeks. The recommended age of the children in this group is 9-13. The workshop will be held at the Boulder Valley Christian Church, 7100 S. Boulder Rd., Boulder, Co. 80303. Phone: 303 494 7748.
Workshop Format:
The workshop will begin with a check in “circle time” where we will discuss the nature of the art project and topic of the week. Approximately one hour will be spent on the art creation and clean up. The remaining 30 minutes will be at final processing in circle time. The children will share what they created and what significance the piece has to them. We will give them a brief introduction to next weeks project and topic for them to prepare and share ideas with their parent/s. |
 |
 |
- Rapport Building and Group Activity. Confidentiality and “supporting” peers within the group is discussed. Treasure box excersize, toilet paper game, trust game. General outline of the workshop is presented. Facilitators may see a pattern of concerns this group may share, and subsequently further develop the themes for each project for additional processing.
- Family Portrait Painting. The adolescent will be given a canvas, acrylic paints and a variety of other materials to create a collage of their family. Possible topics discussed during this workshop would be: how it feels to be adopted, how the child’s family is unique, and what special traits each family member contributes.
- Refection Box. Each child will be given a wooden box, which they will adorn with a variety of materials. Inside the box, a child may place a mirror, which reflects the inner feeling or self. The outside of the box represents the outside of the child and what he/she allows the world to see and experience about them. Topics that may arise during this exercise are: how the child experiences self, independent of others and family and how these inner thoughts create their outer reality. The children are encouraged to reflect upon this exercise and why they choose to keep some things private.
- Opposition Clay. The child will be given a slab of clay and cut the slab in half. The purpose of this exercise is to create two opposing ideas the child may have about him/her self and family. It will show us some of the concerns the children may have and perhaps we can help reconcile and unite these two “pieces” to produce a whole. We will give the child free expression and if the child wishes to keep these “pieces” separate, we encourage their conviction. Awareness and processing is the most important to us.
-
Identity Puzzle. Your child will create a wooden puzzle with his/her own photo on the front. On the back of the pieces, the child will be asked to write feelings or characteristics that make up who they are. This project deals with emotions and the ability to self-examine. Peers will be asked to give feedback on the project at final circle time. Processing may include identity integration.
- Inside-Outside Mask Making. The purpose of this exercise is to discuss identity and self-acceptance. We ask the children what it means to be adopted and does that really “define” you. The child will create a mask and adorn it. The front reflects the outer characteristics shared with the world. The inside of the mask reflects what is personal to the child and his/her family. We encourage the child to explore why some feelings are kept private and some are readily shared.
- Archetypal Hero/Heroine. Your child will take on the personality of a mythological/historical figure and subsequently create a costume and go into character. The purpose of this exercise is to open up discussion surrounding what characteristics and traits that are important to the child and how these traits are part of his/her personality or heritage. Topics that may arise are: “what your child would like to become” and “what he/she already is”. We all have unique traits that are important to us and to others. A secondary focus is how the child contributes his/her special characteristics and how this makes an incredible difference in the family.
- Medicine bag. This is the final meeting and perhaps our most powerful assignment. Your child will create a medicine bag from deer leather and add totems that empower him/her. This project often reflects the cumulative learning and experiences that your child has processed during the entire workshop. Examples of some of the totems are: an arrowhead for strength, a feather to reflect flight and accomplishment, crystals for wisdom, a star to reflect ancestors, a glass heart to reflect love, etc. We believe in empowering these children by allowing them to choose their own totems and materials to add to their medicine bag. They may carry this bag as a symbol of accomplishment and share the significance of each totem with family.
|
| |
| | | | | |
| |
