The Experiment

intervention themes engagement, coping, anger management, family harmony estimated time needed for activity approximately 30 minutes; however activity may continue over two sessions recommended age range 9 and up materials needed paper to take notes (optional) or provider platform whiteboard preparation none therapeutic goals youth will understand the role they play in family harmony youth will learn the importance of accountability youth will understand the power to choose and the consequences of those choices description this activity works well with youth who place a lot or all of the blame for family discord on their parents (and the household rules or expectations) the intent is to engage them in an exploration of how they contribute to the harmony or discord of the household by their choices and actions introduction as you listen to the youth's perspective on the problems of the household or their response to the outcry of their parents in seeking out counseling, ask them to detail how they think the household should run activity after you have processed their perspective and validated their emotional response to the agitation, ask them their understanding of an experiment (relate it to science projects, etc ) ask them if they are willing to do an experiment at home just to see what is going on in the home ask them to identify two to three areas that are a source of contention in the household next ask how they have contributed to the tension in the home because any time there is conflict, each party has a contributing portion to the conflict they may require some guidance in this area ask them their understanding of the purpose of consequences and the effectiveness of them next begins the experiment time "let's do an experiment this week to see what is really going on for the sake of understanding, are you will to do everything you and your parents agree on this week? like taking out the trash on time, doing your homework, etc ? you do your part, and let's see how your parents react " this may take some prompting depending on their disposition you may even have to focus on one area at a time to garner cooperation have them write it down as an agreement and as a reminder of the experiment the following session, review the experience and the outcomes engage them in a discussion of how it went if it was positive identify ways they can continue to have positivity by doing their part to maintain harmony in the household if it was negative walk through what happened, what could have been done differently, and what would they like to happen next discussion the purpose of the activity is to teach youth accountability and just how much power they have in behavior and thought to shift the energy in the household youth often feel frustrated and unheard because they focus more on the rules than the purpose creating harmony and routine in the household by giving them the power to "experiment," they begin to integrate self control and self direction into the equation processing questions how did it feel to focus more on what you were doing last week? what do you think your parents were thinking by the way you behaved? what else would you like to "experiment" on if given the chance? about the creator, dr stacia alexander, lpc s dr alexander is a lifetime native of texas and has served her community through private practice and academic work since being licensed in 1998 as a professional counselor she earned a bachelor's degree in psychology, a master’s degree in counseling psychology and a doctorate in clinical psychology being in private practice not only helped her to work alongside amazing community leaders to de stigmatize mental health in underserved communities, it also provided avenues to employ and train a diverse set of clinicians that launched over a hundred professional careers in the mental health field in addition to clinical practice and academic development, she speaks professionally, particularly about “the emotionality of success” and “my college mental health ” she enjoys helping people from all walks of life understand and embrace the importance of incorporating mental health into their self care regimen just as they do their physicians, dentists, and optometrists in her spare time, she enjoys indoor and outdoor gardening, small diy projects, graphic design and writing she's been married for 29 years and they have adventurous adult children who remind her that life is not all that serious as she makes it out to be contact staciaalexanderlpc\@gmail com