In early April, we graduated a class from Jesse’s House, a group foster home for teenaged girls. You might remember we shared some of their stories in our last blog, including record-setting marshmallows!
I recently had a wrap up conversation with Elizabeth Johnson, their program director. We met to talk about how the program went and to debrief on results. I am happy to report that it was a true success.
Elizabeth was kind enough to share her thoughts, a couple of stories and the impact. Some of the pre- and post-program survey numbers blew us away. For example, life satisfaction increased 92%! Wow.
Thanks again to Jesse’s House, a kind and loving organization serving girls going through tough times. The work that you do is so important.
Laura Garrison-Brook
Words from Elizabeth Johnson, Program Director of Jesse's House
Discovering My Purpose (DMP) gave their program to our teen girls from February – April 2019. The education they provide is great for all teens, but it is especially important for those who have experienced life challenges.
Jesse’s House
We are a group foster home for teenaged girls. Established in 1998, Jesse’s House is a nonprofit organization. Our mission is to reunify our residents with their families whenever possible and to provide a safe house until appropriate placement is found.
Kids wind up in the foster system for a variety of reasons. Most of the time it’s because they don’t get appropriate care at home. Georgia has been hard hit by the opioid crisis, so parental substance abuse is often a factor. This can result in abuse and neglect.
Benefiting From Positive Psychology
As Program Director at Jesse’s House, my background is in mental health therapy. As part of my due diligence process, I looked carefully at DMP’s program to be sure that it would be well-suited to our residents. Our girls have a variety of issues stemming from their exposure to abuse and neglect.
The kind of positive psychology education DMP provides is exactly what our girls need. They need life skills and knowledge that enables them to shift from seeing themselves as victims to envisioning what their “Fantastic Future” can look like. This is a powerful change, since many of these girls have lost faith in their abilities and what the world has in store for them.
Getting to Know their Elephants
The program also included an explanation of how our brains are wired. As I mentioned, the girls can have a victim mentality. When a whole lot of bad things happen to you over a pretty short life, it’s common to think that you will always have bad things happen. That’s your normal.
“In Pursuit of Purpose” uses Professor Jonathan Haidt’s analogy of the Elephant and the Rider. The Elephant is the part of the brain wired to keep us safe, comfortable and happy. The Rider lives in our prefrontal cortex, which is all about strategic thinking, values and goals. Often the ways that the Elephant and Rider see the world don’t align. When we do something and have a “what the heck was I thinking?” response, a lot of time it’s your Elephant that led you astray.
What does this knowledge mean for these girls? It helps break their victim mentality. Rather than thinking, “I tried that and failed. I will always be a failure,” they have a brain-based explanation that makes sense.
Instead they think, “I was trying to save money and it was my Elephant that had me blowing my savings at the mall. Next time I will be more aware and I’ll use our three-step process to stop that from happening again.” They are no longer a victim, but someone who has the necessary tools to take charge of their life.
Harnessing Appreciative Inquiry
Our DMP graduates benefitted on many levels from the program. From the first moment of the first class, Laura Garrison-Brook was teaching powerful positive psychology tools to our girls. To do this, she started class by asking, “What was the best part of your week?”
This is appreciative inquiry at work. Look for what is good so that you can bring more of this into your life.
Many struggled with this question initially, since their focus was almost always on what was wrong in their life rather than what was going well. Laura ended every class with a reminder to look for the good stuff in their lives. At the beginning of the next class, she asked again what the week’s highlight was. As shown by the incredible lift in life satisfaction numbers below, this made a big impact on our girls’ mindset.
The Results
Discovering My Purpose is made up of evidence-based concepts and activities. To track impact, it has students fill out a survey before and after the program. This survey measures a variety of emotional baselines.
Jesse’s House results show that grit increased 24% and self-esteem went up 24%. Even more impressive, meaning in life went up 80% and life satisfaction increased an incredible 92%. We were amazed by this dramatic shift.
Making Hard Choices
Even more importantly, the program equipped our girls to look at their circumstances differently.
Recently, two of our residents had to make some very difficult decisions about their future. In the past they made their decisions based on what would please others.
This time around they both made the courageous choice to do what was best for them and their futures. Based on conversations with these girls, DMP helped them see possibilities for their lives that they hadn't seen in the past. They felt they deserved more. They felt that they were capable of more.
That is such a gift to those who have lost so many things. It’s my sincere wish to have more youth be given these life skills so that they have a better chance at happiness and success.
Elizabeth Johnson, M.Pr.S
Program Director
Jesse’s House