From a grant application (letter of inquiry)
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For Alice, everything began to go wrong when she had to move from Tennessee. She was forced to leave the school where she was accepted and successful, losing her close circle of friends. The difficult transition became overwhelming when one of her older sisters got married and the other went away to college. Alice was left with little emotional support —her father was overbearing and distant and her mother, weak and ineffectual.
Alice became socially isolated, except for a few gothic friends who introduced her to drugs and sex. She was attractive, despite green hair, multiple piercings, and dark clothes. She was deeply depressed, suicidal and began to cut herself. Her mother was concerned, yet could not protect Alice from her emotionally abusive father. A psychiatrist put Alice on medication and recommended psychotherapy. By the time Alice enrolled in the equine psychotherapy program at TRAVERSE, she was severely depressed, socially isolated, and an academic failure.
Thanks to her support group "The American Pride," her horse, Cody, and the staff at TRAVERSE, four years later Alice is happily employed and paying her way through college. Her vocational goal has changed from "maybe being a waitress," to becoming an art therapist or a school teacher. Alice’s parents never became supportive, and she funds her own college education. She has learned how to avoid her father, feel sorry for her mother, and empower herself. Alice never lost touch with TRAVERSE. Now she volunteers and helps other kids from difficult situations. She is giving back more than she received.
There are many kids growing up like Alice in Hillsborough County. Kids like her are at great risk for child delinquency and later violent juvenile offences. According to Loeber and Farrington (2001), individual factors include early anti-social behavior, and emotional problems, such as high behavioral activation and low behavioral inhibition.
Family maltreatment factors are also involved, as well as delinquent peer groups, and low academic aspirations. A 1995 report by Seligman reports that intervention by a mental health professional can improve a child’s outlook in 87-92% of all cases. Interestingly, no psychotherapeutic modality did significantly better than any other. Long-term, uninterrupted treatment is the key for setting disturbed kids on the right track.
Alice became socially isolated, except for a few gothic friends who introduced her to drugs and sex. She was attractive, despite green hair, multiple piercings, and dark clothes. She was deeply depressed, suicidal and began to cut herself. Her mother was concerned, yet could not protect Alice from her emotionally abusive father. A psychiatrist put Alice on medication and recommended psychotherapy. By the time Alice enrolled in the equine psychotherapy program at TRAVERSE, she was severely depressed, socially isolated, and an academic failure.
Thanks to her support group "The American Pride," her horse, Cody, and the staff at TRAVERSE, four years later Alice is happily employed and paying her way through college. Her vocational goal has changed from "maybe being a waitress," to becoming an art therapist or a school teacher. Alice’s parents never became supportive, and she funds her own college education. She has learned how to avoid her father, feel sorry for her mother, and empower herself. Alice never lost touch with TRAVERSE. Now she volunteers and helps other kids from difficult situations. She is giving back more than she received.
There are many kids growing up like Alice in Hillsborough County. Kids like her are at great risk for child delinquency and later violent juvenile offences. According to Loeber and Farrington (2001), individual factors include early anti-social behavior, and emotional problems, such as high behavioral activation and low behavioral inhibition.
Family maltreatment factors are also involved, as well as delinquent peer groups, and low academic aspirations. A 1995 report by Seligman reports that intervention by a mental health professional can improve a child’s outlook in 87-92% of all cases. Interestingly, no psychotherapeutic modality did significantly better than any other. Long-term, uninterrupted treatment is the key for setting disturbed kids on the right track.