Therapeutic treatment refers to the use of remedial techniques in developing individuals’ emotional, mental and physical wellbeing. When such therapeutic services are offered to several individuals at the same time, it is referred to as group therapy. This paper will provide in-depth analyses of two group therapeutic exercises (Purpose in Life and Lifeline) recommended for adolescent female victims of human trafficking.
Exercise 1: Purpose in Life
In this exercise, each adolescent girl would be expected to fold a piece of paper into three different sections. In the first sections of the folded papers, they would be expected to list their talents, strengths and unique abilities (Carrell, 2000). On the third sections of the same papers, they would be guided to list some of the world problems they can relate to, such as human trafficking, child abuse and prostitution, among others (Carrell, 2000). Finally, in the middle sections, they would be expected to discuss and creatively come up with at least four ways of using their talents in the first sections to address the problems listed in the third sections of the folded papers.
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Exercise 2: Lifeline
This will be a very simple exercise. Each adolescent girl in the group would be asked to draw two points on each end of a piece paper. The first point would be named ‘birth’ while the other end is named ‘now’ (Carrell, 2000). The girls would then be guided to draw a line joining the two points. They would then be expected to identify three or more high and low points in their lives and plot graph-like sketches along the joining line based on their ages and experiences (Carrell, 2000). Finally, they would be expected to share the plots with the rest of the group members who would then respond with applause on the high points and words of encouragement on the relatively low points.
How the Exercises would Create Comfortable Environments
The two exercises detailed above would certainly create comfortable environments for the adolescent victims of human trafficking. In the ‘Purpose in Life’ exercise, for instance, the girls are likely to learn how to make use of their talents and unique capabilities in addressing some of the world’s most dreadful problems, such as human trafficking. They are also likely to learn that the fact that they are victims of human trafficking does not make them less important in the society. On the other hand, the ‘lifeline’ exercise would make them identify some of their hidden strengths and unknown weaknesses based on the patterns of the lows and highs of their lifelines. As a result, they would be able to capitalize on their strengths and improve on the weak points to make their future days much better than the past.
Literature
According to Sukach & Cravens (2018), most victims of sex trafficking confessed that low self-esteem was one of the major factors that kept them in the industry. For some of the victims, catching the attention of their customers would act as an esteem-boosting act. As a result, taking such victims through the ‘purpose in life’ and ‘lifeline’ exercises would certainly make them discover the hidden treasures in them, thus, possibly boosting their self-esteem. On the other hand, Gozdziak (2016) narrates how most trafficking survivors find it hard to cope up with the repercussions of such activities. As a result, it would be undeniably significant to subject them to therapeutic treatments to help them persevere against such odds. This certainly brings out the relevance of the above detailed group therapy activities towards the emotional, mental and physical treatment of the adolescent victims of human trafficking.
References
Carrell, S. (2000). Group exercises for adolescents: A manual for therapists . London, LDN: SAGE.
Gozdziak, E. (2016). Trafficked children and youth in the United States: Reimagining survivors . London, LDN: Rutgers University Press.
Sukach, T., Gonzalez, N., & Cravens Pickens, J. (2018). Experiences of Female Sex Trafficking Survivors: A Phenomenological Analysis. The Qualitative Report, 23(6), 1422-1440. Retrieved from https://nsuworks.nova.edu/tqr/vol23/iss6/10
