Experiences from a Balint group intervention with urban public school teachers.

Background: U.S. teacher shortages have more than tripled since the 2012-2013 school year, to over 110 000 teachers needed in 2016. At the conclusion of the 2011-12 school year, 13.8% of public-school teachers left their position. Approximately 50% of the public-school teachers cited the inability to manage their roles as the primary factor for leaving. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of participation in a 6-month Balint group experience on a novice teacher's self-efficacy, experience with burnout, and intentions to persist in the classroom. Research Design: A converged mixed-methods approach was used. Each question was explored with a corresponding qualitative and a quantitative dataset. Data Collection: Qualitative data included (a) a semi-structured focus group; (b) field notes shared from the co-facilitator and Balint group leader; (c) semi-structured debriefs with the Balint group leaders; (d) open-ended questions on the pre and post-test reflection forms, and (e) semi-structured interviews with 3 participants that served as a form of member checking. Quantitative data included pre and post-test and monthly reflection forms that were collected at the conclusion of each meeting. Teacher's self-efficacy, experience with burnout, and intentions to persist in the classroom. Study Sample: Eight teachers volunteered for the group after an email solicitation to all the teacher development program's members. Results: This article examines sources of stress for new teachers, themes that came up in the Balint group that reflect the stress and its impact, and changes in felt burnout, self-efficacy, an intent to persist in teaching. Teachers faced similar stressors to professionals in the medical field. Conclusion: Balint offers an opportunity to addres the social and emotional needs teachers face.

Experiences from a Balint Group Intervention with Urban Public School Teachers.

U.S. teacher shortages have more than tripled since the 2012-2013 school year, to over 110,000 teachers needed in 2016.1 At the conclusion of the 2011-12 school year, 13.8% of public-school teachers left their position.2 Approximately 50% of the public-school teachers cited the inability to manage their roles as the primary factor for leaving.2 The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of participation in a 6-month Balint group experience on a novice teacher's self-efficacy, experience with burnout, and intentions to persist in the classroom. A converged mixed-methods approach was used. Each question was explored with a corresponding qualitative and a quantitative dataset. Qualitative data included (a) a semi-structured focus group; (b) field notes shared from the co-facilitator and Balint group leader; (c) semi-structured debriefs with the Balint group leaders; (d) open-ended questions on the pre and post-test reflection forms, and (e) semi-structured interviews with three participants that served as a form of member checking. Quantitative data included pre and post-test and monthly reflection forms that were collected at the conclusion of each meeting. teacher's self-efficacy, experience with burnout, and intentions to persist in the classroom. Eight teachers volunteered for the group after an email solicitation to all the teacher development program's members. This article examines sources of stress for new teachers, themes that came up in the Balint group that reflect the stress and its impact, and changes in felt burnout, self-efficacy, an intent to persist in teaching.

A Pilot Study on Playback Theatre as a Therapeutic Aid after Natural Disasters: Brain Connectivity Mechanisms of Effects on Anxiety.

BACKGROUND: Natural disasters can affect mental health and result in symptoms of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Playback Theatre (PT) is a form of improvisation where actors play-back personal stories told by audience members. Whether PT can be therapeutic in post-disaster settings is not known. METHOD: We used a series of PT performances and studied levels of depression, anxiety, and PTSD symptoms in a sample of 13 people affected by Hurricane Harvey that happened in Houston, TX, August 2017. Brain imaging, specifically resting state functional connectivity of the amygdala was also studied before and after the PT performances. RESULTS: Both anxiety (p = .001, Cohen's d = -1.25) and PTSD (p = .002, Cohen's d = -1.0) symptoms significantly decreased after a series of 4 PT performances from January 2019 - February 2019. Depression reduction was not significant. We performed resting state functional connectivity (RSFC) MRI before and after the series of performances. We used the right and left amygdala as seeds for RSFC analysis and found that the connectivity between the left amygdala and the bilateral supramarginal gyri was increased after PT. The bilateral supramarginal connectivity with the default mode and the saliency networks increased too, which correlated with reduction in anxiety scores. CONCLUSIONS: PT may offer a form of intervention for anxiety caused by disasters. An increase in left amygdala/supramarginal gyri connectivity may be the underlying mechanism.