Disrupting the Cycle of Disadvantage: A School-Based Expressive Arts Therapy Program (N/NY-SS6144)
Papers
Francine Ostrem, PhD, MA, MFT, PCC
Francine Ostrem, LMFT, specialized in the expressive arts, supervises the implementation of an art therapy trauma protocol in eight schools through Lincoln, a non-profit in Oakland, CA. She also works at the Madison Clinic for Pediatric Diabetes (UCSF) as part of a research team focused on stress reduction in caregivers and young children impacted by T1D. In her spare time, she is in her private practice in Berkeley, treating children and families for trauma and stressor-related disorders.
Jesse Westfall, MA, AMFT
Jesse provides school based therapy services in an Intensive-Counseling Enriched classroom in Oakland, CA.. She provides individual and group therapy services to children who's social-emotional functioning impacts their access to academic material.
This paper discusses a multi-site school-based expressive arts psychotherapy program. By promoting a feature of resilience, Reflective Function, through art expression, the program’s objective is to increase school engagement and well-being in children/youth who live in the context of poverty and associated stressors.