1st Edition

Group Activities for Latino/a Youth Strengthening Identities and Resiliencies through Counseling

Edited By Krista M. Malott, Tina R. Paone Copyright 2016
    182 Pages
    by Routledge

    182 Pages
    by Routledge

    Directly applicable to practice, Group Activities for Latino/a Youth allows helping professionals such as human service workers, social workers, and school and community mental health counselors to select and apply a series of group sessions with topics relevant to today’s Latino/a youth. Each session contains detailed directions, suggested discussion questions, and additional readings on specific topics, with topic examples including grief, identity development, and conflict resolution. Sessions draw on Latino/a cultural norms and strengths to build culturally-informed communication and coping skills in an effort to improve educational, social, and career outcomes. A developmental perspective is used, and sessions are designed to be creative and interactive in order to appeal to the high energy and playfulness of youth at any age. Group Activities for Latino/a Youth helps professionals to better engage and retain Latino/a clients, a group that traditionally experiences one of the largest drop-out rates in therapy, often due to interventions largely informed by dominant Anglo norms and traditions.

    I: Introduction  1: Who are Latino/a/as Krista M. Malott and Tina R. Paone 2: Stressors and Barriers for Latino/a Youth Krista M. Malott and Tina R. Paone 3: Ethnic Identity and Resilienies Krista M. Malott and Tina R. Paone  II: Group Sessions  4: Latio/a Youth and Ethnic Identity Development Krista M. Malott and Tina R. Paone 5: Lation/a Youth and Grief Mary G. Mayorga, Katrina Cook, Tamara Hinojosa, Suzanne Mudge and Elizabeth A. Wardle 6: Understanding LGBTQA Latino/a Youth Kara Ieva and Kristine Weiss 7: Creando Esperanza: Hope Groups Lisa M. Edwards and Jessica McClintock 8: Latino/a Youth and Healthy Relationships
    Jose M. Maldonado and Pietro Sasso 9: Promoting Critical Consciousness in Latino/a Youth Ijeoma Ezeofor, Jamie C. Welch, and Richard Q. Shin

    Biography

    Krista M. Malott, PhD, is an associate professor at Villanova University. A licensed professional counselor, she has worked as a bilingual (Spanish-English) counselor with Latino youth and their families across a myriad of settings, including schools, a drug and alcohol clinic, a prison in Ecuador, and a domestic violence shelter.

    Tina R. Paone, PhD, is associate professor at Monmouth University. A licensed professional counselor and registered play therapist supervisor, she incorporates the use of creative activities to teach about diversity topics in the classroom.

     Latina/o youth make up an ever-increasing percentage of the school-aged population, presenting service providers with challenges and opportunities for engagement. This text serves as a required resource for counselors, educators, and community service providers working with Latina/o youth. From the first chapters on the history, strengths, and barriers of Latina/o children and adolescents, to the latter chapters on group interventions and activities, this book should be in the hands of all counselors and counselors-in-training.— José A. Villalba, PhD, LPC, NCC, is a professor of counseling at Wake Forest University.

    This book is an essential guide for all helping professionals and educators to meet the emerging needs of today’s Latino/a youth, with a balance of theory and real world activities that are easy to follow and proven to build resilience and reduce barriers. Providing culturally rich background information and practical applications for many different age groups, this book is a must have desktop resource!—Diana Wildermuth, PhD, NCC, LPC, is an assistant professor in the psychology and graduate counseling programs at Caldwell University.

    Comprehensive in scope and insightful in its narrative of the complexities and richness of Latino culture, this book is a must-read for school counselors and therapists who want to work effectively and ethically with Latino youth and their families.—Tom Panian, MA, is a school counselor as well as a marriage and family therapist.