Posted by Jennifer Snap-shots of Street Life: The Use of Group Photo-Therapy with Street Youth Sixteen youth between the ages of 14-21 participated in an 11 week photo-therapy program run by the Adolescent Crisis Response Program, a service which provides assessments and follow up crisis counselling for youth in acute mental health crisis. The program took place at Bindiigan Place, an aboriginal homeless youth drop-in center in Surrey, BC.
on 11/13/2006, 8:19 pm
209.53.175.250
Sorry, It has taken me a long time to post this stuff. So 2 summers ago, I embarked on my first
group photo-therapy experience with street youth in Surrey via the Adolescent Crisis Response Program. I developed the group which focussed on health and wellness. It was well-attended, and turned out to be a huge success. Using all my own cameras, and on a shoe-string budget, I had kids sleeping in parks, come out every week to come to "therapy". This past summer, I presented a powerpoint presentation on the group to the Surrey Art Gallery, in hopes they might agree to show some of the photogrpahy from the surrent group I was running. But they loved snap-shots of street life so much, they agreed to run both, as digital art installations. It was really awesome, and such an accomplishment for these great kids.
The purpose of the group was to promote the mental health and wellness of these youth by engaging them in a positive activity that facilitates discussion. The hope was also to promote awareness of available crisis resources and support services for youth. The group was open, and youth were free to attend one or all 11 sessions. Each week, the youth met at the center, where they were transported on outings to various locations. At the beginning of each group after check-in, the youth would be given an assignment to take pictures based on specific themes. An example of the weekly themes would be “coping with stress”, “healthy relationships” and “selfcare.” Taking representational photographs gave participants the opportunity to express themselves in a positive way and facilitated further discussions. Through these discussions and outings, this “at risk” group became more aware of the available community support and mental health services.
The secondary objective of this group was to encourage and promote community awareness by holding a public photo exhibition of the art the youth created in this group. Over 175 people from the community including friends, family, mental health professionals, artists etc came out to support the event. This exhibition helped to reinforce their learning and celebrate their achievements.
At the end of the group, the youth were asked to complete an evaluation regarding their experience in the group, and its helpfulness. It was well-received by the youth and rated very highly. This group gave youth a chance to learn a skill, express themselves through art, and gain confidence and self-esteem through their accomplishments.
Urban Reality: Two youth photo-therapy projects (until August 27, 2006)
Created by youth participating in a therapy program offered through Fraser Health, these photographs offer poignant, metaphoric responses to life's challenges. Snapshots of Street Life addresses issue of health and wellness. The Millennium Project addresses the UN's eight millennium goals including poverty, disease, illiteracy and other issues, with images also to be presented at the World Urban Forum. The Surrey Art Gallery is pleased to exhibit the photos created by these emerging young artists as part of its exhibition program responding to youth and digital culture.
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