Girl Power: A Girls Empowerment and Social-Emotional Skills Program at the Boys and Girls Club

Abstract

Due to the circumstances of the home environment or living conditions, many of the students attending the Boys and Girls Club have experienced trauma and thus have high adverse childhood experience (ACE) scores. According to research, emotional regulation and coping skills can contribute to minimizing racial trauma and preventing adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Additionally, the program director of the Boys and Girls Club identified that many of the members have difficulty with emotional regulation, coping skills, and self-esteem. The purpose of this capstone project was to address and meet these needs by developing and implementing a girls empowerment, social-emotional skills program. Intervention activities focused on emotional regulation, coping skills, interoception, and self-esteem. The girls demonstrated satisfaction with their participation in the program by stating that they enjoyed the activities, reporting something they learned, and recommending the program to other girls. A digital and physical program handbook was created to improve sustainability and increase likelihood of continuation of program implementation after the conclusion of the capstone.