Students in their second term of Niagara College’s Child and Youth Care (CYC) program are developing therapeutic activities for local youth through a new partnership with Victim Services of Haldimand Norfolk Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation.
The non-profit community organization supports victims and their families through a trauma-informed approach, and this initiative will support a new after school drop-in program for youth. The new program is designed to help participants manage the ups and downs of childhood and adolescence through access to resources and perspective shifting activities.
“We’re very excited to be working with Victim Services of Haldimand Norfolk Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation,” said NC’s Sherry Visser-Fleming, Professor, Child and Youth Care Program. “Through this partnership, our students will learn how to plan, adapt and implement various therapeutic activities to address the needs of children and youth who have experienced a wide variety of issues affecting their mental health and wellbeing.”
CYC students work on creating therapeutic activities that will be included in a handbook for Victim Services of Haldimand Norfolk Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation.
As part of their “Facilitating Therapeutic Programs” course, students will each develop three different therapeutic activities for youth to address issues impacting their wellbeing and development. Over the semester, students will practice facilitating their activities in a classroom setting and compile them into a therapeutic handbook for Victim Services of Haldimand Norfolk Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation.
“Each activity is developed with specific therapeutic goals in mind for youth to practice coping mechanisms, express themselves and process their emotions in ways that are positive and build resilience,” shared Gabrielle Gigone, Child and Youth Care student, from Thornbury, ON. “The opportunity for our class to create something significant for our community has brought us together in a unique way that allows us to showcase the skills we are learning in the classroom.”
Each therapeutic activity is comprised of three components – a warmup activity, implementation phase, and a cool down – and focuses on needs identified by the partner agency including emotional and mental health, social skills and relationships, physical and lifestyle health, life skills for independence and leadership and community engagement. As a new program, the therapeutic activity handbooks created by NC students will provide the facilitators from Victim Services of Haldimand Norfolk Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation with a wide selection of activities to support youth in their community.
“I feel very fortunate to be part of a project that addresses the unique needs of a marginalized community,” said Tiah Lovegrove, Child and Youth Care student from Lowbanks, ON. “By integrating prevention and trauma aftercare into our activities, we can provide holistic support that addresses immediate and long-term needs, fostering health development and resilience within the community.”
When developing their activities, CYC students are also addressing accommodations to support the needs of different populations, like those with varying physical and cognitive abilities, members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, and more.
“We always teach our students to consider how they can adapt their programming to meet the needs of diverse communities,” said Visser-Fleming. “Our students are taught to apply equity, diversity and inclusion principles to all program development.”
Incorporating nature is another key component of the students’ therapeutic activities.
“Using a nature-based approach to support healing and connectedness for youth is part of the wholistic student experience,” said Visser-Fleming. “Whether they incorporate nature into their environment, or facilitate their activity outside in nature, our goal is to create well-rounded supports for children and youth with social, emotional, and behavioral challenges.”
Moving forward, Visser-Fleming hopes to work with more community partners to create new opportunities for CYC students to apply their learning and prepare them for successful careers supporting children and youth with varying needs in a wide range of settings.
