Adapting the Pynoos School Based Group Therapy Model for Use with Foster Children: Theoretical and Process Considerations

Abstract

Children who enter foster care are removed from their homes, their families, and everything else that is familiar. They are then placed with strangers. Once protective services are initiated, separation from biological parents is likely to further traumatize these children, even if they had previously been neglected and/or abused. As a result, foster children experience trauma on multiple levels. Trauma experiences are often enacted behaviorally in ways that disrupt the children's capacity to learn as well as their peer relationships at school. Accordingly, it seems logical to provide school based services that address specific manifestations of trauma related behavior. Robert Pynoos has developed a model for work with children who have experienced trauma. The model includes individual and group counseling, a mentor for the children and group counseling for the parents. This paper discusses an adaptation of the model's school based group component, specifically designed to address the emotional, social and by implication, the educational needs of children who were currently, or had recently lived in out-of-home foster placements. The group was conducted in an inner city elementary school with a large enrollment of at-risk children.