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POEMS & PLANTING
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Rage. Anger. Depression. Isolation.
I move this pain I feel inside into the earth. Out sprouts sign of life without despair but hope shines through the ground. The growth of the bud into a flower is the beginning of a new life and new opportunity to transform. A fragile flower needing love and nourishment to thrive and survive. Witnessing change through the eyes of the blooming flower .
~Anonymous
I move this pain I feel inside into the earth. Out sprouts sign of life without despair but hope shines through the ground. The growth of the bud into a flower is the beginning of a new life and new opportunity to transform. A fragile flower needing love and nourishment to thrive and survive. Witnessing change through the eyes of the blooming flower .
~Anonymous
Northwest Healthcare Services
my role:
To provide youth with support and encouragement through the process of freely expressing their feelings in a healthy outlet in the form of poems and planting. I was able to take the kids outside everyother day to spend time reflecting on life and feel invested in their theraputic community garden. Working hand in hand with the youth to overcome obstacles in life I wanted to make myself available to be a resource for trust and connection.
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Northwest Healthcare provides assistance to families and residential treatment for youth between the ages of 12-17 years old who expereince emotional, behavioral, and substance abuse issues.With the use of group therapy, individual counseling, and family counseling, Northwest's goal is to provide youth with comprehensive treatment that promotes self-discovery. |
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Achievements |
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With the help of the co-facilitator, we were able to provide a safe space for the youth who participated in the planting & poems group. The poems allow the youth the ability to share their unique life expereinces and hardships they have gone through in a healthy outlet. The group incorporates planting flowers that represents the beginning of their new journey in life. As the youth water and care for their flowers, they watch the seed turn into a stem, then a bud, and then bloom signifing new life.
Art therapy is a form of expressive therapy that utilizes the creative process of making art to improve a person's physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Art theapy involves the creation of art in order to increase the awareness of self and others. This in turn can promote personal development, increase coping skills, and enhance cognitive function. Art therapy has been shaped and influenced from personality theories, human development, family systems, psychology, and art education. |
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WHAT'S NEXT?
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I plan to continue to work with my community partner to create more curriculum that comes from "outside the box" approaches. The therapeutic garden will continue to be apart of the program for the duration of the summer and as more youth come into the group, the garden will continue to grow and represent the journey that got them there, what they accomplished while they were there, and how they can take what they learned and apply it in the future.
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