Building Therapeutic Relationships to Foster Success For At-Risk Children and Adolescents
Format
Poster Presentation
First Presenter's Institution
Savannah Chatham County Public School System
Second Presenter's Institution
NA
Third Presenter's Institution
NA
Fourth Presenter's Institution
NA
Fifth Presenter's Institution
NA
Location
Harborside East & West
Strand #1
Social & Emotional Skills
Strand #2
Academic Achievement & School Leadership
Relevance
Building therapeutic relationships with at-risk children and adolescents through social and emotional skill building can foster healthy relationships and improve social functioning in the community, educational, and family setting. Studies have shown if students are nurtured appropriately emotionally, academic achievement will also rise.
Brief Program Description
Whether you are a novice educator or a seasoned professional working with adolescents, building therapeutic relationships with whom you provide services to can make lasting effects. Discovering and developing the strengths of children can create an environment of trust, accountability, and the possibility of improved performance. The presenter will share how implementing evidence-based therapeutic strategies and interventions to improve social and emotional skills can create a powerful relationship between adult and child. The presenter will share materials and methods used and brainstorm with the audience ideas that they may use in their own classrooms, schools and centers.
Summary
A positive adult-child relationship built on trust, understanding, and caring will foster children’s cooperation and motivation and increase their positive outcomes at school (Webster-Stratton, 1999). Building and maintaining positive rapport, cognitive behavior therapy approaches and evidence based social skill and emotional building can further strengthen the adult and child relationship.
Building and maintaining positive rapport with children is fundamental. Rapport is the name given to the magic that emerges when two people interact to form positive or primarily positive impressions or attitudes toward one another. It is a feeling of sameness and accord threaded with a sense of basic trust (Burns, 2002). Rapport is the building block from which all relationships are constructed.
Cognitive behavior therapy techniques assist children with becoming aware of inaccurate or negative thinking. Furthermore, cognitive behavior therapy guides a person to be able to view challenging situations more clearly and respond to them in a more effective way. After building rapport, you are able to challenge and support children with building awareness of their own thoughts and feelings that directly influence their behaviors.
Children who have strong social and emotional skills perform better in school, have more positive relationships with peers and adults, and have more positive emotional adjustment and mental health (Jones & Bouffard, 2002). Research reviews and meta-analyses find that well-designed, well-implemented social emotional learning programs are associated with positive social, emotional, behavioral, and academic outcomes for children and adolescents (e.g., Durlak, Weissberg, Dymnicki, Taylor, & Schellinger, 2011).
Implementing evidence-based therapeutic strategies and interventions along with maintaining positive rapport will influence the thinking, behavior and social functioning of some of the most challenging children. To begin this process, educators, social workers, therapist, child care workers and any other professional person providing direct service to children have to build a therapeutic relationship that focuses on trust and unconditional positive regard.
Evidence
Building and maintaining positive rapport with children is fundamental. Rapport is the name given to the magic that emerges when two people interact to form positive or primarily positive impressions or attitudes toward one another. It is a feeling of sameness and accord threaded with a sense of basic trust (Burns, 2002). Rapport is the building block from which all relationships are constructed.
Cognitive behavior therapy techniques assist children with becoming aware of inaccurate or negative thinking. Furthermore, cognitive behavior therapy guides a person to be able to view challenging situations more clearly and respond to them in a more effective way. After building rapport, you are able to challenge and support children with building awareness of their own thoughts and feelings that directly influence their behaviors.
Children who have strong social and emotional skills perform better in school, have more positive relationships with peers and adults, and have more positive emotional adjustment and mental health (Jones & Bouffard, 2002). Research reviews and meta-analyses find that well-designed, well-implemented social emotional learning programs are associated with positive social, emotional, behavioral, and academic outcomes for children and adolescents (e.g., Durlak, Weissberg, Dymnicki, Taylor, & Schellinger, 2011).
I
Biographical Sketch
Phylicia Wilford is an optimistic, empathetic and licensed clinical social worker who is committed to changing the lives of individuals. She is currently a District Behavior Specialist with Savannah Chatham County Public School District in Savannah, Georgia. She earned her bachelors degree at Eastern Michigan University and her masters degree in social work from the University of Cincinnati, Ohio. Phylicia has extensive experience in children mental health, family services, therapeutic foster care, counseling, providing training and educational opportunities to professionals, student outreach, diversity and behavior management.
Keyword Descriptors
At risk, Emotional and social skills, Therapeutic relationships, Student engagement, Student achievement, Social learning, Social workers, Teachers
Presentation Year
2017
Start Date
3-7-2017 4:00 PM
End Date
3-7-2017 5:30 PM
Recommended Citation
Wilford, Phylicia MSW, LCSW, "Building Therapeutic Relationships to Foster Success For At-Risk Children and Adolescents" (2017). National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference. 112.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/nyar_savannah/2017/2017/112
Building Therapeutic Relationships to Foster Success For At-Risk Children and Adolescents
Harborside East & West
Whether you are a novice educator or a seasoned professional working with adolescents, building therapeutic relationships with whom you provide services to can make lasting effects. Discovering and developing the strengths of children can create an environment of trust, accountability, and the possibility of improved performance. The presenter will share how implementing evidence-based therapeutic strategies and interventions to improve social and emotional skills can create a powerful relationship between adult and child. The presenter will share materials and methods used and brainstorm with the audience ideas that they may use in their own classrooms, schools and centers.
