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Students Learn Behavioral Therapy Skills to Prepare for High School
June 30, 2022 -- For some students, the idea of therapy can conjure images of discussing difficult topics in a no-nonsense manner. The Buckeye Ranch is on-site at Columbus City Schools locations this summer to challenge the notion that therapy has to be serious.
“Buckeye Ranch isn’t this scary place,” said Dr. Andrea Weisberger, a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor with The Buckeye Ranch. “We do fun groups with kids, [and] we do our school-based stuff.”
The Buckeye Ranch is an organization that provides emotional, behavioral, and mental health services for kids and their families. They’re bringing some of that knowledge to CCS students.
Rising ninth-grade students at Wedgewood Middle School worked with The Buckeye Ranch to learn about dialectical behavioral therapy skills which include mindfulness, emotional regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness.
And they’re not just reading about these skills in a book. Along with being a Clinical Counselor, Weisberger is a Registered Play Therapist, and it’s as fun as it sounds. Students had the chance to see play therapy in action during Summer Experience.
“They’re not only learning about the skills, they’re also playing games together, finding ways to reinforce those ideas,” Weisberger said.
One of these games was called "Statues." A student wrote a certain pose down on a notecard and a different student acted it out based on their descriptions. The purpose of the game was to help them practice how to effectively describe what they’re feeling. By doing it through a charades-style activity, honing this skill felt more like play than a chore.
Incoming ninth-grade student Audrey Gutierrez said playing games made the skills easy to learn.
“We get to know new stuff [like] about how we have to be ourselves, how to be kind to each other, and if we have problems, we can talk it out with somebody,” Gutierrez said.
Wedgewood students aren’t the only ones who will get to try out play therapy. The Buckeye Ranch is focusing its Summer Experience programming on incoming ninth-grade students from across the District. They’re working to give them skills they can utilize when making the transition from middle to high school, something that can be stressful.
“When transitioning to high school, students don’t always have the support necessary,” said Brianne Pannell, supervisor of Digital and Extended Learning for CCS. “Before they transition, we want them to have these skills to get them ready for ninth grade.”
The hope is that with these skills, students will be able to better handle the transition to their respective high schools in August. The Buckeye Ranch will be visiting other eighth-grade classrooms throughout the summer to help get students ready for the change.