Blog 10

Blog 10: Senior Project Update

(1) What are you currently doing in your independent component? 

• For my independent component I am currently volunteering at the YMCA daycare in Pomona. 

(2) What is a recent piece of research (article, interview, or audio-visual) that have you reviewed you would say was significant in helping you understand where to go next in your senior project?  The piece of research should be something you reviewed in November.  Please explain what you learned and where are you going next because of this piece of research.

• I have been researching tests used to diagnose children and individuals that not only help me answer my EQ for my senior project but also helps me better my science fair component by being able to use the best diagnostic test I can making my science fair component more accurate.

(3) Provide evidence from your independent component or the piece of research as something you recently did.  For example, a photo of something you working on for your independent component or your notes from the video you watched. 

• I just did an update on my independent component which is a quick log of what Brittany and I did at the YMCA on our first day there. You can view this if you click here.

Additional Post: Independent Component

Hour Log and Description (Independent Component)

Contact: Adrian or Martha (909) 623-6433

Date	Hours	What I did	Total Hours
November 28, 2012	4 hours	Today at the YMCA daycare Brittany and I came in and immediately began to work. We introduced ourselves to the 4 children who were already there and as soon as we were finished we began to play with the children and interact with them as much as we could.	4 hours
December 5, 2012	4 hours	This week at the day care Brittany and I started by hanging ornaments from the ceiling as instructed. Later on when children began to arrive we decided to take out more games for the children and before we knew it the day came to an end.	8 Hours

Science Fair Proposal

1. What is your topic?

· Child Play Therapy

2. What is the driving problem behind your experiment and the quote by an expert to support that problem? (Expert citation must be MLA format.)

· Although children need care many do not get treated.

The most recent U.S. Surgeon General’s report on mental health described the shortage of
appropriate services for children as a major health crisis and estimated that, although at least
1 in 10 of all children suffer from emotional and behavioral problems severe enough to impair
normal functioning, less than half receive any treatment (U.S. Public Health Service, 2000). The
report emphasized that “growing numbers of children are suffering needlessly” (p. 3) and it
stressed the importance of early intervention and family involvement. Thus, identifying proven
interventions that are responsive to the distinct needs of children and their families is critical,
not only to diminish unnecessary suffering but to prevent the development of more serious
impairment across the life span and the resulting cost to society.

Jones, Leslie. "The Efficacy of Play Therapy With Children: A Meta-Analytic Review of Treatment
Outcomes." American Psychological Association, 2005. Web. 24 Oct. 2012

http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~cfc/classes/CPSY_642/Readings/Class%209/The%20efficacy%20of%20play%20therapy%20with%20children.pdf

3. What is your hypothesis? (Must be in If-Then form.)

· If a child is receives a high score on the Brief SDQ Test then they are likely to be emotionally or behaviorally unstable.

4. Write a paragraph summary of how you will perform the experiment. Include the tools you plan on using.

·This experiment will be performed by following the Brief SDQ test instructions. I will ask a child's parent the questions either in person or through e-mail. once I receive the answers to the questions I will add up the scores and say weather or not the child is emotionally/ behaviorally unstable according to the Brief SDQ Test.

5. Select one of the following Project Categories for your experiment:

· Behavioral/Social Science

Blog 9: Working EQ and Possible Answers

Content: You just completed the presentation on the foundation. Please review your working EQ and respond to the following:

(1) What was the working EQ you used during your presentation?

• What is the best method to use during a child's first Play therapy session?

(2) Did you decide to revise your working EQ after your presentation? If so, write your revised EQ here.  If not simple write "I am not going to revise my EQ at this time".

• How to give a good Play Therapy session?

(3) What are possible answers to your current working EQ? 

• As of now my answer to my new EQ is to really observe the patient and understand the patient and the way he/she feels at the moment.

Blog 8: Rough Draft of Presentation 1

Rough Draft of Presentation 1

Independent Component 1 Plan Approval

CONTENT:

(1) Write a description of what you plan on doing for your independent study component.

• At the moment I am volunteering at the Samaritan counseling center. There I am able to have conversations with the therapists in the center and I am also able to go into the therapy rooms and see the setting where all kinds of sessions take place. For my independent study component I plan to visit a YMCA, an elementary school, or a day care like I was suggested to do in one of my interviews. By volunteering in these places I will be able to be around children a lot more and be able to interact with them. 

(2) Describe in detail how you think your plan will meet the 30 hours work requirement.

• My plan will meet the requirements because even though schools are only open during the week day cares and the YMCA are open everyday of the week making it very easy for me to be able to get my hours done. I will also make sure to calculate how many hours a week I need to have done in order to have all my hours done by the due date.

(3) How does your independent study component relate to your working EQ? 

• My working EQ at the moment is “What is the best environment to successfully treat a child?” My independent study component relates to my EQ because I will be able to see children interact with each other and be able to see how they react to different circumstances, for example if a child doesn’t share a certain toy how will each child react? I will also be able to learn and understand how to approach the problem in the correct manner. 

Second Interview Questions

Content:

The purpose of the second interview is justify your mentor as an expert in the field. Thus, you will be asking at least 5 questions about their background and/or the background of the organization or company where they work.

• What made you want to become a Family Therapist?
• What courses did you take to become a Family Therapist?
• How long have you been a Family Therapist?
• Is their a specific reason why you choose to work in the Samaritan Counseling Center?
• How has Samaritan helped different families and individuals?
• What are the measurable criteria you use to assess how well treatment is working? Can you give me a few examples?
• What kind of medical information do you need? Will a medical evaluation be needed before my child begins treatment?
• When treating a child do you work with their school and teachers? How often do you communicate with them?