Building Mental Health: The Movie Making Process
The Movie Making Process© uses the artistic process as a real-life learning experience that builds human developmental skills through the theory of Multiple Intelligences; using the latest in neuroscience research and the power of paying attention. Pop-culture is the want, self-control is the need and digital technology is the tool.
About You
Section 1: About You
First Name
Linda
Last Name
Flanders
Website URL
Country
United States
Section 2: About Your Organization
Organization Name
Taproot, Inc.
Organization Website
Organization Phone
715-594-3880
Organization Address
N1872 670th St. Bay City, Wisconsin 54723
Organization Country
United States
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
Your idea
Name Your Project
Building Mental Health: The Movie Making Process
Country your work focuses on
United States
Describe Your Idea
The Movie Making Process© uses the artistic process as a real-life learning experience that builds human developmental skills through the theory of Multiple Intelligences; using the latest in neuroscience research and the power of paying attention. Pop-culture is the want, self-control is the need and digital technology is the tool.
Innovation
What makes your idea unique?
As states continue to reduce spending, many are cutting mental health programs and relying on the juvenile justice system to care for growing numbers of young offenders with psychiatric disorders; some two-thirds of juvenile inmates having at least one mental illness. The Movie Making Process was designed originally for those children who had not succeeded in traditional programs. It can succeed because of its unique blending of pop culture, science, art and using today’s technology for the greater good. The science of its foundation comes from early childhood development, Multiple Intelligence theory and the need for experiential learning. Coming in the door of pop culture gets under the level of resistance and allows for an instant connection to the want of connection and excitement; tapping into everyone’s diverse interest. The filming process actively teaches self-awareness and self-control, but since “the movie” is the goal, defensiveness to new learning is diminished. Control is built internally as personal awareness of habits grows. The movie comes together to form a much larger and powerful learning tool: young people can learn from themselves, acting as their own role model. The required presentations of the movie project to varied audiences uses the latest in neuroscience research and the power of focused attention. From working one-to-one with an autistic child, to a classroom addressing bullying and harassment, to a whole community working to reduce substance abuse and addiction, the possibilities are endless. The process can be adjusted specifically for individual needs and easily taught to others.
Do you have a patent for this idea?
Yes
Impact
This Entry is about (Issues)
What impact have you had?
Our nine-year case study with an aggressive autistic girl assisted her to stay in school, graduate and work part time in the world. She lives with her parents, is happy and productive. We produced a short documentary of her story. In one school classroom, a creative teacher re-used her movie project on bullying and harassment every six weeks, to remind her students about the topic and their decision to become kinder people. She had no behavior problems the entire year that could not be corrected in class. Another school used their B/H project actively throughout the entire school as the core for an anti B/H campaign. End of year statistics showed a 58% decrease in B/H incidents and a 95% increase in the belief that one needs to make amends to one another for harm caused. One bullied boy in class acted out new behavior in the movie, learned from it and had his best year every: more friends, better grades and fewer problems. All teachers reported spontaneous acts of kindness from students. One boy in a day treatment program discovered a new personal interest and talent in camera work. The methamphetamine movie project has been replicated five times and in three different states by other organizations. No statistics are available on decrease in use. All projects required the collaboration of multiple community agencies, many community members and lots of kids. Training materials connect movie projects to state media arts educational standards and meet all criteria for Prevention Theory activities.
Problem
The Movie Making Process addresses the problem of the juvenile justice system becoming the new juvenile institutions, often because of neurological impairment from abuse or neglect, learning difficulties or substance abuse. The program shows the links between early childhood development, impulse control, self-control, learning difficulties, mental health labeling, the reliance on a pharmaceutical approach and the juvenile justice system. While prescription medication offers many a chance for a more balanced life, by itself it is not enough. If mental illness is considered a chronic disease, then self-awareness and learning self-control skills are essential. The Movie Making Process makes learning these skills interesting and engaging, but it is still hard work. Without having new skills on how to learn, adapt or function in life, new behaviors are not possible; and with children who miss developmental stages, learning from cause and affect does not work.
Actions
Public awareness of the work and its potential is essential. We have published articles and presented at state and national conferences to spread the word and show clips from projects. We have a diverse web presence on Youtube with examples of projects we have done, showing possibilities for replication. We have put together materials for self-learning by creative teachers and community groups; hosting a Meth-Movie contest that was replicated in three states, by media arts classes, student filmmakers and after-school programs. We collected data through case studies, which allowed us to be nominated to SAMHSA’s Midwest CAPT Service To Science Academy. Expert consultants helped us develop an evidence-based evaluation. We are currently working with two Wisconsin counties to implement the program on a countywide level.
Results
More agencies in other states are contacting us directly. They are actively seeking something new and innovative that will appeal to the youth they work with. Many people want to see how a project might look as it comes together, our Youtube clips offer examples. As a result of the available training materials, we expect that creative and innovative communities or agencies will begin trying the process with young children as soon as they see at-risk behavior arising. There is no age limit to its use and the process was originally designed to work with very young children who had atypical behavior; behavior no one could manage. Our acceptance to the CAPT Academy offers a step up to find funding needed for a full-scale and long-term research study. By connecting with two counties and all involved agencies, we have the possibility of expanding out to other areas by direct referral.
What will it take for your project to be successful over the next three years? Please address each year separately, if possible.
First: We need administrative support. We function primarily now as volunteers. Research and development took longer and cost more than anticipated. We are looking for funding assistance to expand. That requires marketing and publicity so agencies know who we are and what we do and how they can use what we have created. A documentary and training films would be essential. So many agencies operate as isolates: we need to connect mental health with social services, with special education, with probation, with corrections: Especially reaching out to juvenile court services, which now sees multiple issues with their clients; mental illness, substance abuse, learning disability and crime. They have expanding case leads and reduced resources. Connecting with an entire community willing to implement a full-scale evaluation is essential. We also need the funding for the independent evaluator.
Second: Continue to implement a comprehensive program in a willing community, with all agencies and schools collaborating; plus the collection and evaluation of data for the evidence based evaluation for SAMHSA. Publicity of the program and its implementation, plus the filming of a documentary of it in process allows people to actually see the process in action. Other communities implementing the program, especially at earlier ages, would allow it to spread quickly: engaging youth through their own interests, building developmental skills through experiential learning and using the latest in neuroscience research to make larger gains, faster. Communities need funding initiatives to allow them to try new and innovative ideas.
Third: Final collection of research data, publish a peer-reviewed article and publish the evaluation findings; then applying to SAMHSA as a national model program. The culmination of a documentary to show the process, and the research evaluation to document results offers a holistic approach to a growing complex problem that is often treated in isolation.
What would prevent your project from being a success?
We have reached a glass ceiling for our program as a national SAMHSA model until we can implement our evidence based evaluation developed at the CAPT Academy, publish a peer-reviewed article and disseminate our research findings to policy makers. The neuroscience research is available to substantiate why our program works when others do not. We need to implement it on a large scale and have an independent evaluator analyze the data. While the evaluation will collect and analyze statistics, it does not put a human face to the program nor allow others to “see” how people’s lives can change. This is why a documentary about the program is necessary. It is also essential that communities have the economic ability to develop Media Arts labs. This offers youth the ability to continue the program with creative activities that teach self-awareness and self-control, plus uses technology for the greater good. Without alternative activities to learn developmental skills, nor the opportunity to pursue those skills, hopelessness sets in. It is also essential that education and government begin to see the artistic process as needed to help build developmental skills and educational understanding. It is also vitally important that the art-community expands its concept of art and begins using the creative process for social justice and community activism. The IT world needs to understand that the speed of IT development and change is damaging human development, which is a timed and sequenced event. Our program offers an alliance that can work for all.
How many people will your project serve annually?
1001‐10,000
What is the average monthly household income in your target community, in US Dollars?
$1000 - 4000
Does your project seek to have an impact on public policy?
Yes
Sustainability
What stage is your project in?
Operating for more than 5 years
In what country?
United States
Is your initiative connected to an established organization?
Yes
If yes, provide organization name.
Taproot, Inc.
How long has this organization been operating?
More than 5 years
Does your organization have a Board of Directors or an Advisory Board?
No
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with NGOs?
Yes
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with businesses?
No
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with government?
Yes
Please tell us more about how these partnerships are critical to the success of your innovation.
To be able to recognize developmental, mental health, and educational difficulties a child is experiencing, all agencies really need to work together. We have found this is not always the case. We have been able to become a conduit for this to occur in a way that gets all agencies, and youth, out of their habitual comfort zone; coming together in a new and different way; one that can also involve parents. We just began to branch out and connect with businesses, showing how local youth gain workforce skills through service learning experiences by doing media arts promotion of local businesses; supporting the development of community relationships. As community agencies and at-risk youth come together for a project, all of them see themselves from a different perspective; vital for real behavioral change.
What are the three most important actions needed to grow your initiative or organization?
In order to become a model prevention program through SAMHSA, we must implement our program on a large level and conduct the evidence-based evaluation by an independent evaluator. We have the evaluation tools ready to be used and a nationally recognized evaluation group eager to work with us. We need the funding to allow this to happen. While we do have training materials for our program and it has been replicated in three different states, we need the ability to film the large-scale implementation as a documentary and create training films. Statistics will not spur people to action; emotion must be engaged and they must see to believe. It is vital to have both: To stimulate personal growth, alter policy and transform public opinion. We need administrative assistance and operating capital. Research and development has required all of our money. We manage on small grants, but need assistance to grow larger and show the many different ways that The Movie Making Process can be used: mental health, education, juvenile justice, corrections, community activism and workforce development skills. It is just a matter of what topic is addressed and how the final project is used: the process remains the same.
The Story
What was the defining moment that led you to this innovation?
I was a police detective in San Francisco specializing in child abuse. I began to see children that I met as victims come back into the system as offenders. Once in the Criminal Justice system, there was little I could do to alter their course. I found this horrific: victimized and then institutionalized. I left to find a better way. In the late ‘80’s I became a Feldenkrais Practitioner®. I took principles of Feldenkrais learning: Awareness, Movement and Differentiation, and applied it to behavior; helping atypical children function freely in the world. My sister/colleague was working on a Master’s in clinical Psychology and a Ph.D in Human Development. She documented in case studies the work we began with children who had failed to make progress in other programs. We found that at the core of most behavioral problems was a missing phase of early childhood development. We asked the question: How can we develop these skills once the window of opportunity has passed and we are now looking at a neurological dysfunction in learning? This lead us to Multiple Intelligence theory, Moshe Feldenkrais work with somatic education the use of clay in working with perceptual difficulties. The Movie Making Process developed out of this early research as 1) Digital technology became available, 2) I re-engaged with a life-long passion for movies, 3) Children with multiple psychiatric labels showed us they were eager to participate and learn self-control, 4) We saw children generalize into real life the healthier behavior they acted in the movie, and 5) Neuroscience research became available to support why this process works when others do not. My drive to find a better way lead me to understand the connection between science, art and becoming a true human being.
Tell us about the social innovator behind this idea.
As a police detective in child abuse, I was trained as a child Interview Specialist. My ease with children guided me to use my Feldenkrais training and apply it to atypical behavior. My first published peer-reviewed article was for The Feldenkrais Journal and how it could be applied to children with psychiatric disorders. I began my use of “The Movies” first in a published self-help book for teens called, Hollywood Endings and How To Get One. I used “the movies” literally as a metaphor to learn how to live life; especially when there was no actual role model in their lives. My work evolved into actually having children and youth star in their own movies. With success, I expanded out into classrooms, schools, corrections and communities at large, as global problems began to hit small rural areas. Success on larger levels led to being nominated for SAMHSA’s Science To Service Academy. As I began to develop my skills as a filmmaker, I expanded my projects to include music videos and documentaries, specializing in using them for community activism. I have won several awards and Honorable Mentions at Film Festivals. I published my second peer-reviewed article on technology and humanity; presenting it at the 2004 Politics and Information Systems Technologies and Applications International Conference. (PISTA) I have presented my work at many national conferences and am currently working with two counties on developing a substance abuse prevention campaign using The Movie Making Process.
How did you first hear about Changemakers?
Email from Changemakers
If through another, please provide the name of the organization or company
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| 19._Peer_Reviewed_Paper.pdf | 68.23 KB |
 | 136 weeks agoLinda Flanders updated this Competition Entry. |
| 136 weeks agoLinda Flanders submitted this idea. |
