Format
Individual Presentation
First Presenter's Institution
na
Second Presenter's Institution
na
Location
Sloane
Strand #1
Mental & Physical Health
Strand #2
Social & Emotional Skills
Relevance
The model presented assists at-risk youth with processing traumatic experiences using a Narrative-based approach (mental health). At the same time trauma-related symptoms are resolved, participants rediscover their personal stories and begin writing a new ending of their own choosing for their life stories while discovering their identities as separate from the trauma experience (emotional skills).
Brief Program Description
A Narrative-based model designed to promote recovery from traumatic experiences and assist at-risk youth with reclaiming their individual identities as separate from those experiences will be presented. The model can be readily implemented by counselors, social workers, teachers, pastors, or other service-oriented individuals. Participants will experience the model and explore its application in practice.
Summary
At-risk children and youth can have multiple traumatic experiences, from witnessing violent crime and abuse to experiencing abuse, neglect, and abandonment. Extrapolated from the success of a research-based project developed to address PTSD for the Haitian people following the earthquake in 2010 and the Newtown community following the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012, a narrative based approach to trauma recovery will be described. A story-base is presented, and a program model is proposed to use narrative techniques where participants retell individual stories of their traumatic experiences. The goal of the approach is to assist trauma victims through first sharing their stories with each other, followed by writing a new ending to their personal stories where they are not defined by their trauma, and are able to rise out of the results of trauma. The story, Gold Stone, is used as the initiator for the storytelling experience. The main character in the story experiences trauma, but through the help of three wise friends he remembers and reclaims who he is. The story ends without knowing what the character will do to begin his new life, prompting participants to project their own new endings from their personal stories. Workshop participants will have the opportunity in the presentation to experience the model firsthand, working first in small groups, and returning to the large group to evaluate the process. The research findings from the first use of the model will be shared, which show a significant decrease in measured post traumatic responses in the participants following the use of the narrative model.
Evidence
Research conducted using the Gold Stone model with survivors of the Haitian earthquake demonstrated significant results. Participants significantly decreased on the measures of trauma symptoms as follows: 85 participants were evaluated for the level of post traumatic stress measured prior to experiencing the model, and after completing the model. A paired-samples t-test was conducted to evaluate the level of post traumatic stress experienced by the participants. There was a statistically significant decrease in post traumatic stress scores from time 1 for both groups of participants.
Pair 1 (M = 28.86, SD = 9.627) to Time 2 (M = 13.32, SD = 8.641), t (84) = 13.677, p
Pair 2 (M= 27.16, SD = 10.587) to Time 2 (M = 11.34, SD 9.668), t (84) = 12.817, p
Biographical Sketch
Dr. David Lane was founding faculty member and developer of the graduate counseling programs at Mercer University, where he is Professor of Counseling. Along with his wife, Donna, he co-wrote a training program for individuals working with trauma victims, which has been used nationally and internationally. He has presented at local, regional, national, and international conferences and workshops on such topics as trauma, grief and loss, marriage counseling, early childhood education, parenting, behavior management, and ethics. He lead four separate training workshops for pastors and teachers in Haiti following the 2010 earthquake in a Narrative model for early intervention toward preventing post-traumatic symptoms. He also brought the Narrative model to Newtown, CT, as a follow-up to the Sandy Hook shootings, where pastors and community leaders participated in two workshops to learn the model. He co-authored the Ready to Learn series, which teaches preschoolers and elementary students needed learning skills, and the Christian marriage workbook, Please Share the Door, I’m Freezing: Creating Oneness in Marriage.
Dr. Donna Lane is Assistant Professor of Counseling at Liberty University, Adjunct Professor of Counseling at Mercer University, and a Christian Counselor in private practice since 1993. Along with her husband, David, she co-wrote a training program for individuals working with trauma victims, which has been used nationally and internationally. She has presented at local, regional, national, and international conferences and workshops on such topics as trauma, grief and loss, marriage counseling, toxic religion, early childhood education, and soul care. She participated in leading two training workshops for pastors and community workers in Newtown, CT, following the shootings at Sandy Hook. She also co-authored the award-winning Ready to Learn series, which teaches preschoolers and elementary students needed learning skills, and the Christian marriage workbook, Please Share the Door, I’m Freezing: Creating Oneness in Marriage. With her son, Hayden Lane, she co-authored the book, Restored Christianity, which is currently in its second edition.
Keyword Descriptors
trauma, narrative therapy, post-traumatic stress, self-image, identity, story, model, lay leaders
Presentation Year
2016
Start Date
3-8-2016 8:30 AM
End Date
3-8-2016 9:45 AM
Recommended Citation
Lane, William D. and Lane, Donna E., "Gold Stone: A Narrative Approach to Dealing with Trauma" (2016). National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference. 55.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/nyar_savannah/2016/2016/55
Included in
Gold Stone: A Narrative Approach to Dealing with Trauma
Sloane
A Narrative-based model designed to promote recovery from traumatic experiences and assist at-risk youth with reclaiming their individual identities as separate from those experiences will be presented. The model can be readily implemented by counselors, social workers, teachers, pastors, or other service-oriented individuals. Participants will experience the model and explore its application in practice.
