164 Research Reflection by Abigail McDonald

In January of 2023 I began to work with the Thrive program. Thrive is an out-of-school well being program for youth. Participants meet virtually once a week for an hour. Each week has a different topic that facilitators lead the group on. Topics include gratitude, strengths, goals, relationships, restructuring negative thinking patterns, and mindfulness and meditation. I was interested in helping with research for them so I decided to also become a group co-facilitator to gain an understanding of the program. As a co-facilitator, I assisted in running these groups as well as attending weekly trainings with other facilitators. While co-facilitating groups, I also assisted with research for the program. Participants for the program took pre and post surveys that measured anxiety, depression, and well being. Our research was to determine if the Thrive program significantly lowered anxiety and depression scores and raised the participant’s sense of well being. Doing research and working for the Thrive program has been very rewarding. From a research perspective, it was amazing to see how participant’s well-being, anxiety, and depression levels changed after completing the program. Being a co-facilitator and assisting with research impacted my career goal of becoming a therapist because I was able to see that this kind of work has a real positive impact on the lives of others.