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Presented by
Loralei Rose Bingamon, MA, OTR/L
Dr. Jenny Martinez, MA, OTD, OTR/L
USC Division of Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy
Af3irm School of Youth Activism: A Trauma Informed Program Targeting
Adolescent Girls in South and East Los Angeles
Acknowledgements
Deepest appreciation to Dr. Jenny Martinez, insight and guidance which was integral to the development and success of SOYA.
Thank you to Skylar Perez‐Grogan, Traci Ishigo, RYT, and the women of Af3irm Los Angeles who dedicated their time and energy to the girls and communities served.
The Flow
Program Overview
Administrative Process
Curriculum Design
OutcomesInterwoven Activities
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Grounding Exercise
“Then and When are in your head.
They are not here Now are they?”
‐ Eckhart Tolle & Robert Friedman,
in Milton’s Secret (2008)
Inspiration
SOYA Overview Insert Quote or photo
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The Problem
Trauma Exposure&
Toxic Stress
The Program: SOYA
• Af3irm, Los Angeles
• Pilot Program
• 8 weeks, 1x/ week, 3 hours
• South Los Angeles: Mercado la Paloma
• Trauma informed yoga
• Self‐regulation strategies
• Youth organizing| Feminist leadership trainings
Target Population Eligibility Criteria
• High school aged youth (9th‐12th grade)
• South or East Los Angeles
• Can commit
• At‐risk for toxic stress
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Goals• Build resilience
• Increase self‐efficacy
• Raise consciousness
• Develop praxis skills for community action
• Increase social supports
Administrative Processes
The Team
Skylar Perez, Youth Organizing Coordinator
Ivy Quicho, National Executive Chairperson
Tracy Ishigo, RYT
Loralei Bingamon, SOYA Coordinator
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Marketing + Recruitment
• Facebook and Instagram
• Organizational contacts
• Personal contacts
• Community Outreach
Fundraising
• Albert Schweitzer Fellowship
• Go Fund Me
• Donated Props
• Other Fundraisers
Curriculum Design
“…there is a real need to disrupt and challenge the simple acts of privilege, and one of the ways to begin this process is by listening to and acknowledging those for whom such acts are not simple…”
- Ron Scapp, Teaching Values: Critical Perspective on Education, Politics and Culture in Teaching Community (2003) by bell hooks
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Collaborative Program Design
Diverse team
Frameworks• Trauma Informed Care
• Feminist Theory• Occupational Justice
Program Schedule
10am - 10:45am
Trauma Informed Yoga
1
10:45 - 11:15am
Self-Regulation Strategies
2
11:15 - 11:40am
Lunch
3
11:45 - 1pm
Feminist Leadership
4
Trauma Informed Yoga
“Trauma informed yoga is people informed yoga.”
– Hala Khouri, MFT, E‐RYT, SEP
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Trauma Informed Yoga
“…err on the side of
caution to not create shame,
pressure, or pain unnecessarily…”
(Khouri, 2016)
“Yoga” means union or link.
TIY vs non‐TIY
Guided Breathing
“Peace is every breath.”
‐ Thich Nhat Hahn
Self-Regulation
Topics
● Deep Breathing
●Mantras for self‐regulation
● Identifying Triggers
● Identifying Social Supports
● Creating a Sensory Tool Box www.sensoryconnectionprogram.com
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Sensory Activity
Calming
o Soft, familiar, rhythmic, undemanding, soothing
Alerting
o Strong, fast, complex, non‐rhythmic, unpredictable
Feminist Leadership/ Advocacy
TOPICS
● Self‐care + Collective Care● Systems of Oppression● LGBT Inclusive Feminism● Healthy Relationships●Women’s Activism + Leadership● Direct Action Campaigns
Activity
“I cannot sit and care for my body without being concerned with what happens to the bodies of my sisters. We are connected… it is our responsibility not as individuals, but as communities to create structures in which self‐care changes to community care. In which we are cared‐for and able to care for others.”‐Yashna Padamsee
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Outcomes
Demographics
Student Population
• 14 participated
• 8/14 attend school in East or South LA
• 16 or 17 yrs. old =
11/ 14 (80 %):
• Latina = 13/ 14 (87 %)
OPHI-II
Student role as major
role
Student role as major
role
ExtraCurricular Activities
ExtraCurricular Activities
Family life Family life
Free timeFree time RelaxRelax
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Outcomes: Quantitative
• Attendance: 9 / session
• ACE : 2 / student
• Perceived Stress: “ Sometimes ”
• Health and Well‐Being Survey
• Stress Moderate “Negative Effect on Daily Activities”
• Discomfort: Slight vs. None, ‐1 pre ‐ post Stress: Slight vs. None, ‐1.5 pre ‐ post
Outcomes
Youth Reflections
• Trauma Informed Yoga
• “I feel more connected and calmer and in control of my body.”
• “Since practicing yoga I have felt more at peace with not only my body, but about myself in general.”
• “Since practicing yoga…I feel less stressed out and peaceful.”
Outcomes
• Self Regulation/ Sensory Strategies
• “I now use breathing [techniques] lot when I get mad and will continue in the future.”
• “…I am more aware of how my body responds to stress. I know now that when I am stressed out I just need some time to myself. Out of all the sensory strategies …I enjoy taking three big breaths the most, although I love them all.”
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Outcomes
• Feminist Leadership
• “When talked about body shaming, I realized what we need to be doing is loving ourselves because no one has the power to take our confidence away.”
• “I think this topic (oppression) made me understand more about the world and myself because it made me realize what us girls go through in our lives. We girls need to defend one another…we shouldn’t let guys hit us.”
Wendy Lucero
SOYA Participant, 2016
Strengths and Weaknesses
Admin/Logistics
• Volunteers
Curriculum
Data collection
Timing/ Schedule
Parent Reflections
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Loralei Bingamon
SOYA Coordinator
Moving Forward
The Present • Affirm Youth: 2x a month
• Continued leadership training + wellness check‐in
• Women’s Day March + March on Washington
• Presented at conferences• Parent participation
The Future• Second Round in 2018• Fundraising• Submit for grants
Closing Thoughts
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Closing Breathing
Activity
o Breathing in, I know I am breathing in. Breathing out, I know I am breathing out.
o Breathing in I feel my body. Breathig out, I know I am breathing out.
o Smiling to my body I breathe in. Releasing tension in my body I breathe out.
Thank you
“Caring for myself is not self‐indulgence, it is self‐preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”
‐Audre Lorde
Questions
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Resources
Batliwala, S. (2010). Feminist leadership for social transformation. CREA. Retrieved from www.uc.edu/content/dam/uc/ucwc/docs/CREA.pdf
Berastaín, P. R. (2013, November 18). Contextualizing domestic violence. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pierre‐r‐berastain/contextualizingdomesticviolence_b_4260793.html
Burke Harris, N. (2014, September). How childhood trauma affects health across a lifetime. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/nadine_burke_harris_how_childhood_traumaaffects_health_across_a_lifetime?language=en
Community and County Health Empowerment Los Angeles. (2015, September 19). 2nd Page of Notes for 9/19/15 For CCHE meeting on PTSD/MENTALHEALTH/Alternatives for Trauma. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=996800430340228&set=a.392973860722891.90469.100000308418146&type=3&theater
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Flores‐Ortiz, Y. (2002). Re/membering the body: Latina testimonies of social and family violence. In A.J. Aldama (Ed.), Violence and the body: Race, gender, and the state (pp.347‐359). Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
Resources
Janofksy, M. (2016, https://edsource.org/2016/la‐unified‐cites‐rising‐rate‐of‐suicidal‐behavior‐and‐devise‐more‐tools‐to‐address‐it/572539November 13). LA Unified cites rising suicidal behavior and devises tools to address it. Ed Source, Retrieved from
Kidsdata.org. (2016). Los Angeles County: Child Population. Retrieved from http://www.kidsdata.org/region/364/los‐angeles‐county/summary#6/demographics
Lopez‐Zeron, G. & Parra‐Cardona, J.R. (2015). Elements of change across community‐based trauma interventions. Journal of Systemic Therapies, 34(3), 60‐76.
Los Angeles Times. (n.d.a). Mapping LA: East Los Angeles. Retrieved March 12, 2017, from http://maps.latimes.com/neighborhoods/neighborhood/east‐los‐angeles/
Los Angeles Times. (n.d.b). Mapping LA: South Los Angeles. Retrieved March 12, 2017, from http://maps.latimes.com/neighborhoods/region/south‐la/
Development of a composite trauma exposure risk index. Psychological Assessment, 27(3), 965‐974. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pas0000069
Moser, A., Stuck, A. E., Silliman, R. A., Ganz, P. A., & Clough‐Gorr, K. M. (2012). The eight‐item modified Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey: Psychometric evaluation showed excellent performance. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 65(10), 1107‐1116. doi:10.1016/j.jclinepi.2012.04.007
Myers, H. F., Wyatt, G. E., Ullman, J. B., Loeb, T. B., Chin, D., Prause, N., . . . Liu, H. (2015). Cumulative burden of lifetime adversities: trauma and mental health in low‐SES African Americans and Latino/as. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 7(3), 243–251. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0039077 of the life stories of women. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 55(2), 223‐246. doi:10.1177/0022167814546693
Resources
Salinas, B. (2013, July 11). 'East Los High': Not just another teen soap. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/07/11/200730330/East‐Los‐High‐Not‐Just‐Another‐Teen‐Soap
SAMHSA. (2014). SAMHSA’s Concept of Trauma and Guidance for a Trauma Informed Approach. Retrieved from http://store.samhsa.gov/shin/content/SMA14‐4884/SMA14‐4884.pdf
Samuel‐Davis, J.A., Ford‐Gilboe, M., Wilk, P., Avison, W. R., & Ray, S. (2010). Cumulative trauma, personal and social resources, and post‐traumatic stress symptoms among income‐assisted single mothers. Journal of Family Violence, 25, 603–617. doi:10.1007/s10896‐010‐9323‐7
Schilling, E., Aseltine Jr., R..H., & Gore, S. (2007). Adverse childhood experiences and mental health in young adults: a longitudinal survey. BioMedCentral, 7(30), 1‐10. Retrieved from doi:10.1186/1471‐2458‐7‐30
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