Thurman Brrisben Center Case Study

Self Care at Thurman Brisben Center
Thurman Brisben Center is an emergency homeless shelter that provides thirty to ninety days of rent free housing to women, men, and several families. As a staff member at Thurman Brisben Center, I saw a specific need for a service that provided stress management and self care. While we have many members of the community who provide necessary physical help, there are fewer resources than one would assume. In my opinion, all of the resources in the world will not be enough if someone is in a poor mental state. My goal was to help residents learn and develop techniques and knowledge about self care. I decided to do an eight week, sixteen session plan that encompassed various components of self care: basic hygiene,
While researching, I found Dr. Neff’s page on self compassion. Last Spring, I traveled to Jamaica to help pregnant teens and teen moms find their sense of self with a group of other students in a human services class. I had not thought about that trip in a while and started thinking what kind of an impact this sort of knowledge and understanding about one’s self would have on the homeless population. I then developed sessions based on what I felt would be most beneficial and engaging. I chose to include the most information about health and wellness in my “Healthy Lifestyle Choices” sessions because I felt this was the most meaningful spot for things that may not have been taught to these adults. I chose information to discuss I felt like seemed common sense but it was not until I began research did I realize how overwhelming it could be to someone with less
I found it very refreshing to use time I normally spend studying abstract theories and concepts, by actually spending time with people. As a psychology major, I found the autonomy especially important in being able to teach what I felt was important without following strict guidelines. I learned that I really enjoy teaching and engaging in conversations with various people. I had no idea that I would enjoy research but when it comes to public health and mental health I do.
I spent a total of twenty six hours at the Thurman Brisben Center. I have been working at the Thurman Brisben Center since October, but coming in on my off time was a completely different experience. I had various residents who specifically seemed to avoid me as a staff member engage in deep conversation at some of the sessions I held. I am going to take some time off from this project and reevaluate how to better reach more clients. I felt like the project was a success based on the discussion in each session. However, I think that if I had the ability to do a different time and date that I could meet others. Wednesday nights is also when AA comes to Thurman Brisben Center and I felt I lost some participants to that program. Overall, I enjoyed this experience and felt that I worked with individuals I normally would not have. That statement may seem trite because I am paid to work with this population, but this experience opened my eyes