Novel approach to counseling assists children’s heavy burden

July 15, 2016 | Jean Rudnicki

Though the images of hundreds of kids clinging to the tops of trains rolling across the Mexican terrain have faded from our TV screens, the kids still arrive. The young, unaccompanied refugees fleeing poverty and crime in Central America arrive with little to call their own, though they are loaded with heavy baggage.

“They are carrying extreme burdens of trauma,” explains UHCL School of Education Professor of Counseling Cheryl Sawyer

Sawyer says the children have borne witness to or been victim of rapes, beatings, robberies, even murder and death. The horrific memories are etched deeply in their psyches when they arrive at the Children’s Center in Galveston to await relocation, foster homes, or deportation.

A proud 1984 UHCL alumna and 26-year UHCL professor, Sawyer and her bilingual school counselor-in-training students have worked with approximately 40 of these troubled children to date. They are using a novel counseling approach that is attracting interest and support across the mental health community.

“It’s not my call whether they stay or go,” Sawyer says, aware of the political firestorm surrounding the refugee topic. She notes, though, that many will remain in this country. “If they stay here and we don't help, they're going to end up in the prison system or they're not going to make it. They're just kids. No one can carry that burden and not get some sort of mental health help. My counselors (in training) are willing to work with these children and do trauma counseling with the children while they are here.”

The main question is what kind of counseling. Sawyer has done extensive research via the Internet, conferences and even a trip to England to investigate earlier work done there with the Yugoslavian and Somalian refugee children. She says while there is help for adults, most authorities believe all they need to do is provide food and shelter for the children, but for a child who has witnessed someone being crushed beneath the wheels of a train or worse, food and shelter is not enough.

“Everybody agrees that telling your story in a safe setting is a good thing, but we’re taking it a step further,” she explains. “We’re working with digital storytelling.”

The student-counselors utilize iPads. They take photos of items that are symbolic to the children. For instance, one child carried a copy of his father’s death certificate, which they photographed. Another example would be if a child wore a certain pair of shoes during the journey, they would photograph them. Yet another child might create a drawing or an art object that is deeply meaningful and symbolic. Or they go to the Internet and help the child find images. The counselor then helps the child sequence the story. What Sawyer’s team does next is unique. They print and bind the child’s story into a hard copy “book” which is then given to the child.

“We let the child go through this storybook,” Sawyer says. “They can see that this chaos in which they were involved is organized for them, and if they want, they can keep it safe inside that book. No one else gets a copy of that book but them. It’s their book and they can keep it and move on, or we give them blank paper where they can add to it.”

Nancy Castellon, a UHCL graduate student working toward a Licensed Professional Counselor degree, worked behind the scenes on the project, assembling and preparing the books for printing.

Working closely with the material she says, “I felt the pain in these children.”

Castellon had the opportunity to give the finished books to many of the children.

“I think that was the biggest reward I got out of this. I knew these kids. I knew their stories.”

Sawyer is assessing what extent the books have positively impacted the children and their healing process. Structured sessions and focus groups were arranged to quiz the children and gauge their reactions and response to the books. This summer Sawyer will be performing the analysis to identify patterns and themes, and to help verify the effectiveness of the “storybook” approach. In addition, Sawyer is reviewing her counselors-in-training journals as well to understand the process from their perspective.

There has been a lot of interest in the project from the mental health community. In addition to financial assistance for the project from UHCL, several counseling organizations have provided grants including the Association for Creativity in Counseling, and the International Counselors for Social Justice. She was invited to present at the Texas Counselors Association last fall, and the American Counseling Association/Canadian Counseling Association International Conference in March. In addition, Sawyer has been invited to present at the National Latino Psychological Association International Conference in Orlando, Florida, in September, as well as the Texas Association for Bilingual Educators in Galveston during the fall.

The work is extremely demanding for the counselors-in-training. “They are emotionally exhausted after a session with these kids. At the same time it's a good thing,” Sawyer says. “They are learning to deal with heavy trauma issues and they are learning to practice self-care. They are empowering themselves that they can work with whatever comes across their desk which is exactly what a school counselor has to do,” Sawyer explains.

Alejandra Aguilar, a certified Galveston Independent School District high school counselor and UHCL Educational Leadership doctoral student, helped supervise the counselors-in-training.

“They grew at a fast pace,” Aguilar says. “At first they were very intimidated by the process but their confidence grew as the semester went on. They did tremendous work in building relationships with the clients and helping them tell their stories. It was truly beneficial for the clients.”

“They are strong counselors,” Sawyer says of the students. “None have quit, none have run away and none have said, ‘I can't do this.’ Mainly they say, ‘Thank you for this opportunity. It’s hard, but I’m glad I’m doing it.”

“It’s a great way for us to help the community.”