For over a decade I have worked with at-risk, underserved adolescents, assisting them in transitioning from high school to college, but also ensuring that they learn functional ways to develop and grow as individuals. While I am a lawyer by training, my focus and life’s work has revolved around adolescent education and mental health. My M.A. is in psychology in education, focusing on young adults. Over the course of my years working with adolescents, it has become clear to me that there is a segment of that population that have experienced very traumatic episodes in their young lives, but do not have sufficient coping mechanisms and tools to effectively deal with such events.
There is literature in existence looking at mindfulness and its efficacy in dealing with trauma and anxiety in adolescents. Researchers such as Susan Bogels have looked at the utility of mindfulness for the adolescent population. There appears to be interesting possibilities for utilizing mindfulness with adolescents who have suffered from traumatic events, and specifically at risk, underserved adolescents who have been exposed to violence and other life-threatening stressors. This blog series will examine various mindfulness techniques and their efficacy with this population.
To receive our Mind Body Medicine Network, LLC newsletters and future blogs: http://bit.ly/13J8D4V
(with contributing editors, Larry Cammarata, Ph.D., Linda Cammarata, RN, RYT, and Ed Glauser, M.Ed., N.C.C., LPC)