Doc Wayne Empowers Youth to Form Healthy and Trusting Relationships with Peers and Adults

BOSTON, Sept. 12, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Doc Wayne, a non-profit that is using sports-based group therapy to help at-risk youth overcome traumatic events and emotional challenges, while learning important life skills, today announced the results of its evaluation conducted with The PEAR Institute, analyzing the Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) impact of its program in schools. The results showed that Doc Wayne helps its youth participants build healthy and trusting relationships with adults and peers, with 80.4 percent of students reporting a positive change in relationships with peers and 76.8 percent of students reporting a positive change in relationships with adults. Doc Wayne destigmatizes therapy with Chalk Talk®, its innovative form of group therapy where participants share openly with their peers and engage in team sports. The programs are run by clinicians who serve as coaches, many of whom develop strong relationships built on trust with youth participants in need of guidance.

"At The PEAR Institute, we are dedicated to connecting social-emotional research to educational practice because we believe that understanding children's social-emotional development is paramount to providing the right support at the right time," said Gil Noam, Ed.D., Founder of The PEAR Institute. "Doc Wayne's commitment to social-emotional learning is evident in their work, weaving sports and therapeutic practices together to meet students' social-emotional needs. Helping students find and use their voice to develop both autonomy and empathy is just one example of how they are using data to truly build balance in their youth."

Doc Wayne's approach is also helping build assertive and empathetic leaders:

• 82.1 percent of students reported positive change in assertiveness 
• 75 percent of students reported positive change in action orientation
• 75 percent of students reported positive change in empathy 

"At Doc Wayne we want our youth to thrive and develop the needed skills to navigate the world and become a contributing member of society. We live in a society where social-emotional learning competencies such as self-management, relationship skills, and empathy, are key for creating safer schools and positive learning environments," said Rebekah Roulier, LMHC, Chief Operating Officer, Doc Wayne. "When youth have not been provided the opportunity to develop these skills, it often impacts their learning, relationships with others, and can contribute to high-risk behaviors. Developing social-emotional skills can be seen in children's enhanced academic achievement, decreased incidence of violence and improved school performance." 

Through trusting relationships, skill building, and processing challenging life situations Doc Wayne also increased its students' ability to learn:

• 80.4 percent of students reported positive change in learning interest
• 76.8 percent of students reported positive change in critical thinking

The evaluation, conducted with The PEAR Institute, a joint initiative of McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School conducts cutting edge research to improve the ways schools and youth-centric programs promote social-emotional development. The Holistic Student Assessment (HSA) and Holistic Student Assessment-Retrospective (HSA-R) are data driven tools used to promote social-emotional development in young people in school and after school settings. These self-report tools provide social-emotional snapshots reporting strengths and challenges either on an individual level or on cohorts.

ABOUT DOC WAYNE

Doc Wayne is an award winning non-profit that is using sports-based group therapy to help at-risk youth cope with traumatic events and emotional challenges, while learning important life skills. Doc Wayne's evidence-informed curriculum, Chalk Talk® is an innovative form of group therapy where participants share openly with their peers and engage in team sports. The programs are run by clinicians who serve as coaches, many of whom develop strong relationships built on trust with youth participants in need of guidance. Doc Wayne is unique because it is a mobile program, which makes it easier for youth participants to attend. Many times participants have never played team sports. Through Doc Wayne they are introduced to soccer, basketball, flag football, rowing and other sports, where they develop new skills, learn about teamwork and benefit from physical activity. Doc Wayne is partially funded by donors who see the power of combining therapy with sports. To learn more or donate, please visit www.docwayne.org.

Media Contact:
Kyla Ruane
Buzz House Public Relations
[email protected]
617-755-9379

SOURCE Doc Wayne Youth Services, Inc.