Success Stories

Seton Resource Center

Providing intervention therapy before a situation gets out of control is just one way that School Health Connection (SHC) is helping children in the New Orleans area. By partnering with the Seton Resource Center (SRC), a classroom-based intervention programs are now available at five area grammar schools. SRC, which is a program of the Daughters of Charity Services of New Orleans, not only provides trauma, violence and bullying prevention, it is also there to assist in individual, group and family therapy.

With the help of School Health Connection, we are now able to bring much needed services into the schools, explains Karen Nelkin, LCSW, Assistant Director for SRC. As Nelkin adds, To change potentially destructive behavior, you have to get to children early and often to reinforce positive behavior. In the schools where SRC is available, we are having a profound impact so we know these services are vital to the healthy emotional development of our youth.

And the children are listening and learning. Teachers of a sixth grade boy realized their young student was in need of help for anger-management and asked SRC to provide him individual counseling. Over the course of a few weeks, SRC worked with the student to understand his emotions and more importantly, taught him how to recognize when he was reaching his boiling point. With therapy and using what his counselor called an anger escalator, the student began to quickly realize his anger warning signs, in particular, he would start feeling hot to the touch then he would ball his fist tightly. Now instead of just lashing out, this student has a means of controlling his anger by reverting to his anger escalator. He now knows that if hes feeling a certain way he needs to turn his thoughts to something else; he needs to take deep breaths and walk to calm himself.

At another school, SRC is providing a group of young girls with trauma intervention therapy. During a particular session a young girl looked at the others in the group and said, You know how when you are asleep in bed, and the shooting starts so you start sleeping on the floor? And then your mama comes in later, and tells you its okay to get back in the bed? Listening attentively, the other girls reply, Uh-huh.

As a counselor Im often amazed by these young people, Nelkin comments after reflecting on the girls in the trauma group. These children are facing so many challenges at and at such a young age. Its not wonder they are quick to be angry, unable to concentrate and fall behind in schoolwork. Im amazed they are doing as well as they are in some instances.

Nelkin says the true pleasure of her work with SRC and SHC comes in the small things. At the end of one group session, as Nelkin explains, this very soft-spoken girl looked at her and said, This is nice. This is a poor school. We dont get this stuff very often.