Format

Workshop

First Presenter's Institution

University of North Florida

First Presenter’s Email Address

nstanley@unf.edu

First Presenter's Brief Biography

Nile Stanley, Ph.D. is an associate professor of literacy and arts education at the University of North Florida. His research, books and articles focus on narrative psychological approaches to literacy. He is a scholar-artist-in-residence internationally for universities, area schools and agencies.

Second Presenter's Institution

Hope at Hand, Inc.

Second Presenter’s Email Address

steffani@hopeathand.org

Second Presenter's Brief Biography

Steffani Fletcher, M,Ed. is the founder and executive Director of Hope at Hand, Inc. She is a member of the American Montessori Society and International Federation of Biblio/Poetry Therapy.

Location

Session Two Breakouts

Strand #1

Heart: Social & Emotional Skills

Strand #2

Health: Mental & Physical Health

Relevance

Hope at Hand is a recognized service provider specializing in improving the social, emotional skills and mental health of struggling youth populations. Blending poetry with art and wellness strategies creates a safe environment for participants to realize their own abilities, cope with their extraordinary stresses of life and become better able to contribute to their communities. We facilitate hope and resilience. Since 2009, Hope at Hand has developed from a small grassroots nonprofit to one that now provides services to a wide range of populations and community organizations. Hope at Hand staff members have specialized training in education, meditation, poetry therapy and counseling. Our reputation as a direct service provider is reliable and the demand for services is increasing, Aetna insurance company awarded recognition of Hope at Hand as a top mental health provider of Jacksonville, Florida.

Brief Program Description

Hope at Hand, Inc. is a North Florida nonprofit that uses therapeutic art and poetry lessons to help marginalized youth recognize and overcome circumstances that limit their successful participation in society. The presentation will demonstrate interventions informed by narrative psychological research to improve resilience through the coping strategies of (1) social competence, (2) problem-solving skills, (3) autonomy, (4) sense of purpose, and (5) life story reframing.

Summary

Participants will examine the ways Hope at Hand, Inc., an urban nonprofit organization, commissioned art, and poetry in public spaces to help marginal youth develop resilience, social skills, and reframe their life stories from adversity to hope. A virtual poetry walk experience includes performances and exhibits by at risk youth from an international airport, museum, and street corners. Benefits include reflection about art in public spaces, application of how to curate a public gallery with multimedia, demonstration of performing poetry expressively, and creating exhibits for public space. A critical void is filled with knowledge and practice between the arts, mental health, and citizenship with place-based research in creating a more kind and inclusive society.

Evidence

Researchers Clawson, and Coolbaugh, (2001); Coholic, 2020, Kometiani, and Farmer, (2020); Schwan, Fallon, and Milne. (2018); and Stanley, (2021) found that marginalized youth who were guided by a teacher or more capable peers could learn to write and perform poetry and do art making out of adverse experiences for developing resilience - the ability to adapt well in the face of hard times. Resilience, the ability to bounce back from ordeals, can be facilitated through research based, narrative psychological interventions. Stanley, (2019) articulated the instructional practice and value of youth writing poems and creating art about their life stories for resilience is rooted in the narrative psychological conceptual framework known as the Life Story Model. Other influences include Jerome Bruner and Theodore R. Sarbin who introduced and popularized the term narrative psychology. McAdams, a professor from Northwestern University, believed understanding human behavior should be grounded in the knowledge that people make sense of their lives by constructing and internalizing stories. According to this model, individuals begin to organize their lives in terms of self-stories in late adolescence and young adulthood. People reconstruct their past and anticipate their future in terms of internalized and evolving life stories McAdams’s research showed that examining how people arrange and integrate the plot points of their lives was the key to understanding how they construct positive, purpose driven identities.

References

Clawson, H. J., & Coolbaugh, K. (2001). The YouthARTS development project. Juvenile Justice Bulletin. https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/186668.pdf

Coholic, D. (2020). Promoting resilience in youth through participation in an arts-based mindfulness group program. In Arts-Based Research, Resilience and Well-Being Across the Lifespan (pp. 63-80). Palgrave Macmillan.

Kometiani, M. K., & Farmer, K. W. (2020). Exploring resilience through case studies of art therapy with sex trafficking survivors and their advocates. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 67, 101582.

Nguyen, K., Stanley, N., Stanley, L., & Wang, Y. (2015). Resilience in language learners and the relationship to storytelling. Cogent Education, 2, 1-16.

Schwan, K. J., Fallon, B., & Milne, B. (2018). “The one thing that actually helps”: Art creation as a self-care and health-promoting practice amongst youth experiencing homelessness. Children and Youth Services Review, 93, 355-364.

Stanley, N. (2019). Life story model, McAdams. In Summers, R. (Ed.), Developmental Psychology [3 volumes]: How the Mind Grows and Changes over a Lifetime, Greenwood.

Stanley, N. V. (2021). Poetry and digital media for improving upper elementary African American science learning. Journal of Poetry Therapy. 34,1,13-23.

Wash, P. (2018, August 30). Why art matters. Americans for the Arts https://www.americansforthearts.org/2018/08/30/five-reasons-why-public-art-matters

Learning Objective 1

Examine the ways in which combining poetry and visual art can engage youth in community, promote cultural understanding, provide a sense of belonging, and help reframe one’s story of adversity to one of hope.

Learning Objective 2

Learn about the narrative psychological approaches to improve resilience through the coping strategies of (1) social competence, (2) problem-solving skills, (3) autonomy, (4) sense of purpose, and (5) life story reframing.

Learning Objective 3

Tell their own life stories, reconnect to purpose and community by writing a Haiku poem and six-word memoir, which will be combined with visual art.

Keyword Descriptors

Poetry and art therapy, arts education, underserved youth, mental health, community partnerships

Presentation Year

2022

Start Date

3-7-2022 1:00 PM

End Date

3-7-2022 2:15 PM

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Mar 7th, 1:00 PM Mar 7th, 2:15 PM

Promoting Resilience in Youth through a Group Poetry and Art Making Program

Session Two Breakouts

Hope at Hand, Inc. is a North Florida nonprofit that uses therapeutic art and poetry lessons to help marginalized youth recognize and overcome circumstances that limit their successful participation in society. The presentation will demonstrate interventions informed by narrative psychological research to improve resilience through the coping strategies of (1) social competence, (2) problem-solving skills, (3) autonomy, (4) sense of purpose, and (5) life story reframing.