Kent Becker receives UPLIFT advocacy award

Kent Becker

UW College of Education faculty member Kent Becker's innovative effort to use photography to raise awareness of children's mental health needs recently was honored by UPLIFT Wyoming, a division of the National Federation of Families.
    Becker, associate professor of counselor education, received UPLIFT's 2008 Making A Difference Advocacy Award for his work establishing the Wyoming SAGE Photovoice Project (http://www.photovoicewyoming.com).
   Becker received the award during UPLIFT's Celebration Banquet, held Nov. 5 at Little America in Cheyenne. The event was held in conjunction with the Governor's Roundtable on Children's Mental Health.
    "This had a lot of meaning for me," Becker says of the acknowledgment. "The Photovoice project is geared toward increasing awareness around children's mental health, about hearing their voices. To be given an award by this group really means a lot."
   Photovoice is a technique that "combines equal parts photography, research, group process, storytelling, social action, and development of awareness of personal and community issues."
   "The focus of the project really is toward the experiences of youth and families who have been in residential treatment or who have been clearly on the verge of being placed," Becker explains.
   UPLIFT Executive Director Peggy Nikkel described the qualities that Becker's selection represents.
   "The outstanding qualities of Kent's advocacy efforts through Photovoice are his compassion and empathy for youth and families struggling with mental health and substance abuse," she says. "He is able to combine this with his diverse educational and clinical background to support parents and youth in becoming a dynamic voice for change in Wyoming."
   Roundtable participants witnessed the project's power during a plenary session featuring the work. Becker, students in UW's counselor education doctoral program, and project participants presented a narrated slide show featuring representative profiles. Presenters included Photovoice Project participants Lori Hutchinson and Susan Bentley and doctoral students Michael Bishop, Kelly Hubbell, Kristin Douglas and Konja Klepper.
    Fellow counselor education faculty member Serena Lambert recently joined the project team as a co-researcher. A qualitative research expert, Lambert will collaborate with Becker on data analysis and publishing related to the Wyoming SAGE Photovoice Project.
   Since the project's establishment two years ago:
•    17 groups have been launched in five Wyoming counties
•    164 group sessions have been presented
•    145 individual contacts have been made
•    99 individuals have been involved (36 adults and 63 youth)
•    10 presentations have been made on the project (five national, two regional, and three state)
   The next phase will include training a new team of doctoral students to lead Photovoice projects with new groups of participants.
 

Posted on Thursday, November 20, 2008