Dr. Babcock`s Presentation

Transcription

Using Brain Science to Create
New Pathways Out of Poverty
Elisabeth D. Babcock, MCRP, PhD
President and CEO
Copyright ©Crittenton Women’s Union. All rights reserved. 2013.
Science Shows Us that Human Beings
Are Amazingly Adaptive
Who We Become Is a Result of Our Genes,
and Our Environment Too
If we grow up
experiencing life as
filled with many
opportunities, we
become experienced at:
– making plans
– looking for the best
choices…..
– weighing our
options….
– investing in ourselves
for the future……
If we grow up experiencing life as
a series of crises, where new
problems wait for us around every
corner, we become experienced
at:
– reacting….
– focusing on battling our
immediate problems….
– trying to follow what people
say we have to do to get
what we need….
– never planning too far
ahead…….
From Childhood to Adulthood, Our Brains
Grow New Brain Wiring
The more we “exercise” our brains to do something, the better we become at it.
People with predictable and rich
environments are more likely to build
strong “executive functioning skills”:
 Pausing to think about what they
really want before they react to
something;
 Searching for and finding options and
alternative courses of action before
taking steps;
 Organizing and juggling complex
tasks;
 Working to achieve goals over long
time-frames.
But- it’s not just about how we grow upDaily Experiences Affect Us Too
• Science shows that
current life stresses
also affect brain
functioning;
• Brain wiring gets
swamped by stress
and the quality of
memory, impulse
control, and decisionmaking are all
compromised.
Where did I put that computer password?
Why did I just eat that whole container
of ice cream?
How am I going to pay all
these bills?
Executive Functioning is controlled by
Two Areas of the Brain
The pre-frontal
cortex (PFC):
The limbic brain:
Threats
Desires
Analysis, memory, self-regulation
Special Information about Teen Executive
Functioning
• In teen years, all
adolescents develop
a gap between the
PFC (analytic) and
Limbic (impulse)
systems.
• The more stress and
trauma the teen has
and/or is
experiencing, the
bigger the gap will be.
Davey, Yucel & Allen. 2008
So- To Summarize
The quality of our “EF”
strategic thinking and
coping skills are influenced
by:
1. the biology we are
born with;
2. our life experiences
of stress (poverty,
trauma, and social
This child’s future will be the result of
bias);
the gifts she is born with; her experiences
3. our current life
growing up; and the difficulties life throws
circumstances
at her as she manages life choices.
(especially current
stress)
Common EF and Stress-Related Challenges
• Challenges Managing Thoughts,
Memory, Organization, Learning; and
maintaining focus and persistence
• Challenges Managing Behavior,
Emotions, and Interpersonal
Relationships
• Challenges Managing Health and
Well-being
But “EF” Brain Wiring is Special-
You CAN teach a kid
and even an old
dog new tricks!!
• Although “EF” brain
wiring grows fastest in
early childhood, clear
evidence suggests it
can continue to built
at any point- even into
old age;
• Scientists call this
brain “plasticity”.
Good News from Brain Science!
With the right kind of supports,
even those with significant histories
of stress and very challenging life
circumstances can develop
amazing new skills…
And the chances of doing so are
greatly improved by using brainscience informed approaches.
Using Brain Science to Improve
Outcomes: 1. Developing “Agency”
Cultivate participants’
"sense of agency" – feeling
of personal power, control,
readiness to act:
• “I know what I want;”
• “I can usually find a good
way to get there;”
• “If I work hard, I can do
almost anything.”
“See yourself the way that I see you: I see you as strong, talented,
and beautiful, with a future full of possibility.”
2. Creating a Good Environment
for Change
• Try to find quiet spaces
and times to work with
participants;
• Create well organized
programs with predictable
and fair rules;
• Use pictures of
participants’ achieving
goals (modeling);
• Use approaches that are
warm, engaging, and
focused on participants’
wants/needs.
What do you want?
Where do you want
to go?
How do you want to get there?
3. Creating Good Program Tools
for Change
What do you think about this?
• Break complicated
instructions down into
short clear steps.
• Convey information in as
many ways as possiblespeaking, writing, video,
pictures- the more ways
and more interactive the
better;
• Be careful when using
complex data, charts, tables
and blueprints;
• Don’t use jargon or
acronyms;
• Spell out important content
up front and clearly;
4. Reducing “Bandwidth Taxes” and
Maintaining Focus
• Try to streamline and
ease access to
services; if a person
quits, make it easy to
start again;
• Design helpful
organizational tools
into services;
• Create systems of
prompts/reminders.
Maybe you could organize it this way…..
5. Clear EF-informed Goal-Setting Framework
6. Creating Good Goal-Setting
Approaches for Change
1. Help people identify
their own goals/dreams;
2. Build “agency”;
3. Partner to create a clear
set of steps for how to
achieve goals;
4. Make sure goals are
“SMART”;
5. To stay on track, make
6. Create opportunities for
sure you reinforce,
people to practice new skills,
remind, and recalibrate
exercise leadership,
goals ;
and control.
Practice Mentorship and Coaching
• Pausing to own reactions“Stop for a minute; think about
this. What do you really want to
accomplish?”
• Discovering and weighing
options- “You do have choices;
you just may not see them yet.”
• Resilience- “Everyone feels
over-whelmed sometimes. Let’s
think about it; there’s bound to
be a way.”
• Pro-social behavior- “ What do
you think they are thinking? How
do you think they’re likely to
react?”
FY’14 CWU
Mobility
Mentoring
Outcomes
Overall
Successful
Goals
Completion
Rates
85%
Dependent
88% Social
Supports
75%
Housing
75% Health
Obtain child
IEP; move
into
permanent
housing
Stop
smoking;
obtain
therapy;
lose weight
71% Asset
Building
77%
Education
and Training 56% Debt
Reduction
73%
Employment
Complete a
semester;
receive GED
or college
degree
Pay bills on
time; save $;
improve
credit score
Get a new
job; get a
family
sustaining
job
P< .001
P< .01-.05
(N=730)
Examples
of Goals
Statistical
Significance
Shelter Prog.
(498 Control: 98 Tx)
FY’14 CFO Program Outcomes
(CWU’s Most Intensive Mobility Mentoring Program
with Average Length of Participation=3 years)
•
95% enrolled in school or
employed; 58% enrolled in school
and employed;
•
29% graduated during the current
year (72% with college degrees;
28% with trade certificates);
•
38% are now in a family
sustaining job (avg. wage
$28.03/hr.- approx. double
starting wages);
•
Avg. total new participant savings
$2,085.00/pp since program start.
Better Lives Through Science
Thank you!
Elisabeth D. Babcock, MCRP, PhD
President and CEO
Crittenton Women’s Union
One Washington Mall, 3rd Fl.
Boston, MA 02108
Phone: 617-259-2950
[email protected]
www.liveworkthrive.org
Additional Helpful Resources
• CWU’s Using Brain Science to Create New Pathways Out of
Poverty and Mobility Mentoring research briefs and TED talk at
www.liveworkthrive.org website;
• Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University- research brief
#11, Building the Brain’s “Air Traffic Control System and Building
Adult Capabilities video at http://developingchild.harvard.edu/;
• Casey, B.J., & Caudle, K. (2013). The teenage brain: Self control.
Current Directions in Psychological Science, 22, 82-87 at
https://www.sacklerinstitute.org/cornell/people/bj.casey/publications/
publications/Casey_Caudle_the_teenage_brain.pdf

Dr. Babcock`s Presentation

Transcription

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