Name of Therapeutic Activity: Article Discussion Activity Goal: Bring awareness to the commonness of violence against women, and

how it is portrayed through written material. Age: 13+ Or any age where you feel it is appropriate to discuss violence in relationships, and where the individual will developmentally understand the material being discussed. Time Frame: 30 minutes+ Depends on the group of individuals you are working with, how long are your average discussions? Allow extra time if your group discussions run longer than half an hour. Group Modality & Size: This activity can be done individually, however works best with a group. Differences in opinions and perspectives will create a productive discussion. Ideally 1015 members if there is only one facilitator. Materials Required: - 7 Newspaper/Magazine Articles about or making reference to Violence against Women (can be obtained online or through paper copies) - Room( enough to fit your group in a circle with chairs) - Chairs( enough to sit the group youre working with) - Pen/Paper (if someone would like to take notes) Instructions: 1. To begin discuss the goal of the activity. (At this time warn members that if they feel uncomfortable with this topic and need a moment they may take a break) 2. Split the group into pairs or groups of 3. 3. Hand out the articles to each pair. 4. Give them 10 minutes to discuss the article together. 5. Have each pair present their article and feelings towards the article. 6. After each presentation ask if the group has any feelings or thoughts on the article being presented. 7. Continue this process until all the articles have been discussed. Debrief: Its important to debrief with the group afterwards because the subject being discussed is an emotional topic. Some members may have been involved with violence in their past and this could spark memories and/or triggers for them. Keep these questions in mind: 1. What was the importance of this activity? 2. How do you feel about this topic? 3. What are some ways we can bring awareness to this issue? Cautions: Some individuals may have been affected in the past by violence and abuse. There may be individuals who are currently involved in an abusive relationship/or know someone who is

involved. This topic may trigger unexpected emotions and these needs to be considered and prepared for. Variations: This activity can be used with a variety of topics ex. Child Abuse, Substance Abuse, Relationship Advice, Mental Health. This topic can also be discussed and utilized with different materials such as movies and TV episodes that are revolved around violence against women. Reflection: The group did not seem that interested in reading the newspaper articles. They would rather my supervisor and I summarize the articles and discuss afterward. It brought forward a great conversation, and there was definitely a difference in opinions. It was the first time the group met; I feel this activity will help structure future activities. I feel the discussion aspect of this group will definitely run well, as there are differences in opinions and the clients are interested in discussing these topics. I also felt the group was very distracted, and will need very interactive activities in the future.

Name of Therapeutic Activity: What would you do? Activity Goal: Help individuals develop an understanding of the characteristics of healthy and unhealthy relationships. Put the client in someone elses perspective and consider how they would approach it. Age: 14+ Or any age where you feel it is appropriate to discuss violence in relationships and where the individual will developmentally understand the material being discussed. Time Frame: 30 minutes+ Depends on the group of individuals you are working with, how long are your average discussions? Allow extra time if your group discussions run longer than half an hour. Group Modality & Size: This activity can be done individually, however works best with a group where differences in opinions and perspectives can contribute. Ideally 10-15 members if there is only one facilitator. Materials Required: - Chart Paper - 4 scenarios - Tape - 4 markers - Room( enough to fit your group in a circle with chairs) - Chairs( enough to sit the group youre working with) - Pen/Paper (if someone would like to take notes) Preparation: Put 4 different scenarios on 4 different pieces of chart paper. Underneath the scenarios put 4 different choices for the member to make. Allow enough space for each member to put a tally mark. Instructions: 8. To begin discuss the goal of the activity. (At this time warn members that if they feel uncomfortable with this topic and need a moment they may take a break) 9. Explain that the group will walk around the room in a line to each scenario and put a tally under the chose they would most likely choose. Then explain they are to sit down once they finished. 10. After everyone is sitting, collect the 4 scenarios and bring them into the group. 11. Put the scenarios in the middle of the group so everyone is able to see (on the floor or table that is in the middle) 12. Read the scenario out loud, and ask if anyone would like to share what answer they choose and why. 13. Continue this process with all 4 scenarios.

Debrief: Its important to debrief with the group afterwards because the subject being discussed is an emotional topic. Some members may have been involved with violence in their past and this could spark memories and/or triggers for them. Keep these questions in mind: 4. What was the importance of this activity? 5. How do you feel about this topic? 6. What are some ways we can bring awareness to this issue? Cautions: Some individuals may have been affected in the past by violence and abuse. There may be individuals who are currently involved in an abusive relationship/or know someone who is involved. This topic may trigger unexpected emotions and these needs to be considered and prepared for. Variations: This activity can be used with a variety of topics ex. Child Abuse, Substance Abuse, Relationship Advice, Mental Health. Instead of reading scenarios, you could have members act out different scenarios and have members discuss rather than write what they would do next. Reflection: I was unable to complete this activity in time with my clients. However, I feel this activity would have gone over well, as it would spark interesting conversation between the differencing opinions. There are a few clients in my group who do not seem to be interested in the group, and feel they may not be as willing to participate in the activities. However, I do feel they will contribute to the group discussion. These clients will need to be encouraged and praised for their participation.

Name of Therapeutic Activity: Unhealthy/Healthy Body Activity Goal: Bring awareness to the effects of violence against women. Help individuals develop an understandings of the external and internal signs of abuse. Age: 13+ Or any age where you feel it is appropriate to discuss violence in relationships and where the individual will developmentally understand the material being discussed. Time Frame: 30 minutes+ Group Modality & Size: This activity can be done individually, however works best with a group where differences in opinions and perspectives can contribute. Ideally 10-15 members if there is only one facilitator. Materials Required: - Piece of paper large enough to trace a body - Room( enough to fit your group in a circle with chairs) - Chairs( enough to sit the group youre working with) Instructions: 14. To begin discuss the goal of the activity. (At this time warn members that if they feel uncomfortable with this topic and need a moment they may take a break) 15. Split the group into pairs or groups of 3. 16. Have each group discuss what are some signs and symptoms of a women in a healthy relationship, and signs and symptoms of a women in an unhealthy relationship. 17. Give them 10 minutes to discuss. 18. Have each pair present their findings. 19. Have one person who is comfortable lie down on the paper to be traced, and have another individual trace that person. Have the tracer draw a vertical line down the outline. 20. Afterwards hand a marker to every girl and explain that the left side is a women in an unhealthy relationship and the right side is to be a women in a healthy relationship and to draw the signs and symptoms on each one. Debrief: Its important to debrief with the group afterwards because the subject being discussed is an emotional topic. Some members may have been involved with violence in their past and this could spark memories and/or triggers for them. Keep these questions in mind: 7. What was the importance of this activity? 8. How do you feel about this topic? 9. What are some ways we can bring awareness to this issue? Cautions: Some individuals may have been affected in the past by violence and abuse. There may be individuals who are currently involved in an abusive relationship/or know someone who is involved. This topic may trigger unexpected emotions and these needs to be considered and prepared for.

Variations: This activity can be used with a variety of topics ex. Child Abuse, Substance Abuse,
Reflection: I was unable to complete this activity with my clients; however I expect it to go over well. My clients love interactive activities and I feel this will allow them to be more creative. I could see controversy over who will get to draw what; however I am hoping they will be able to use team building skills/problems solving and be able to resolve these issues on their own. I feel this activity will help engage the clients who have difficulty staying on task in group as they will be busy drawing/colouring. I look forward to utilizing this activity with the group in the future.