Listen to thisFor too long the focus on mental health has been from a deficit lens and interventions have often focused on costly medicalized treatments and therapeutic interventions by those trained in colonized mental health practices. When teaching about mental health and wellness to students in post-secondary child and youth care classes we struggled with what to teach since our graduates were likely to begin their careers at the frontline of child and youth care and would not necessarily be using master’s level theoretical interventions. However, there is limited literature about the types of interventions that are used by a frontline practitioner when encountering a child or youth struggling with a mental health concern. In this paper, we focus on two simple interventions, gratitude and being awestruck, that anyone can implement which can change the trajectory of one’s wellness when practiced regularly. According to Stellar et al. (2017) gratitude and awe are self-transcendent and complex emotions with social functions that bind us together.
Gratitude
The concept that increasing gratitude can impact mental wellness has been considered for some time. Researchers (Jindal et al., 2022) that focus in this area have shown that a regular practice of gratitude “has a significant positive correlation with mental well-being,” (p. 109), particularly, a daily practice was found to be “an effective intervention for wellbeing enhancement in early adolescents” (p. 109). Practicing gratitude may seem to dismiss the experiences that many children and youth in-care have encountered but in combination with other trauma-oriented interventions, a gratitude practice may increase hope for a better future.
Gratitude essentially allows an individual to value positive encounters in their life and make meaning of these. It is an act of thankfulness which recognizes daily life events, big and small, that may have been appreciated. A regular gratitude practice can change neuronal structures in the brain. When rewiring occurs, through regular practice, our mental wellness becomes more stable and when distressing encounters occur, these have a less negative impact (Smith, et al., 2020).
According to Armenta et al. (2022), a regular practice of gratitude is beneficial amongst adolescents and can increase motivation, prosocial behaviour and life satisfaction. Their study (Armenta et al., 2022) of 1000 grade nine and ten students showed that “gratitude may stimulate individuals to feel supported by close others, inspired to want to be better, humbled to acknowledge that a change may be necessary, and obligated to make that change, while neutralizing some of the negative affect that stands in the way of that change” (p. 1011). In addition, Armenta et al. stated that gratitude can decrease at-risk behaviour. It is important to note that their sample group was not the typical population that child and youth care practitioners serve, therefore, their specific findings may not be generalizable. Regardless, the literature is showing that a regular practice of gratitude can change one’s well-being for the better.
Gratitude has several benefits such as emotion regulation, something child and youth care practitioners often teach children and adolescents. General improved wellbeing, feeling more satisfied in life and the decrease of anxiety and depression, as well as anger, are also shown to be impacted by a regular gratitude practice (Baumsteiger, et al., 2019). In addition, gratitude can shift one’s physical wellness and decrease future disease (Wong et al., 2020). A gratitude practice is also inexpensive which could be attractive to child and youth care organizations since these agencies are often stretched financially to support mental health interventions for the children and youth in their care.
Gratitude Practice
Gratitude practice needs to be individually created so that these are unique to the child or youth with whom this practice will be used. For example, a practitioner may not want to use a gratitude journal with a youth that struggles with reading and writing. Perhaps in that case more meditation or artistic practices would be appropriate. One important aspect of gratitude practice is that for it to create an attitudinal shift that is maintained, it must be practiced regularly. For example, many studies say that a daily or weekly practice is needed (Smith, et al., 2020).
Some examples of gratitude that could be cultivated when working with those being cared for by child and youth care practitioners could be to work with the child or youth and make a list of things that they appreciate. A simple thank you can increase gratitude, as can creating a collage or reading the gratitude list. Some youth like to keep a bullet journal making list keeping easy. Others might prefer a gratitude chat and colouring while they talk about their gratitude or creating appropriate affirmations. Potentially, engaging in random acts of kindness which can increase gratitude for both the giver and the receiver, is a practice that a child or youth will enjoy. The possible ways to express gratitude are endless as long as the child and youth care practitioner engages and believes this practice is helpful.
Being Awestruck
Being awestruck is an emotional experience that can transform how we view the world and everything we encounter. We can be awestruck by powerful experiences such as the birth of a child, witnessing the Northern lights, viewing works of art, or these can be everyday activities like watching ants carry large objects or listening to children laughing at the playground. What makes something awesome is an individual experience but is typically associated with a sense of wonder and recognition that the world is greater than us (Paquette, 2020). We know we are experiencing awe when we feel amazed, transported and inspired, realizing there are things out in the world far greater than ourselves. While this recognition of our smallness in the world could make us feel insignificant, it instead leads to humility and can trigger altruistic actions (Paquette, 2020).
According to Keltner (2023), there is a difference between being awestruck and experiencing happiness. Happiness may be associated with social encounters while being awestruck can be found in several wonders. Keltner (2023) noted that we can find awe in nature, spiritual experiences, music, big ideas, life and death, collective effervescence (moving and dancing in unison) and moral beauty (acts of kindness). The feeling of awe is experienced when we are in the presence of something vast, that transcends our current understanding of the world. Being awestruck can cause us to slow down, quiet our inner-critic and care more about the world around us and our fellow humans (Paquette, 2020).
Neurophysiology
Both Paquette (2020) and Keltner (2023) said that having experiences of awe can have a positive effect on our mental health. When we experience awe, there are physiological effects and our body is implicated in that we smile, our eyes widen and our shoulders lift, we breathe deeper and these changes link to a shift in our autonomic nervous system. There are also psychological effects in that being awestruck takes us out of our worries and negative thinking patterns and brings about a calming effect. Being awestruck can lead to a greater connection beyond ourselves and we notice more of what is around us. Awe causes us to be more mindful and present which can decrease anxiety and depression (Paquette, 2020).
Many of us are consistently over-scheduled and when we do have time, it is spent gazing at our phones versus gazing at the stars. Fortunately, when awestruck, this profound emotion shifts our attention away from ourselves and the “bothersome daily concerns seem to be less salient and daily stress becomes less intense” (Bai, et al., 2021, p. 855). Furthermore, Monroy and Keltner (2023) noted that in addition to increased oxytocin, we may notice an “elevated vagal tone, reduced sympathetic activation, and reduced inflammation - associated with enhanced mental health” (p. 311). Having a higher vagal tone provides the mental capacity for managing an increase in stress and allows for a higher tolerance for change. This also means our sensory system will spend less time in fight or flight mode, which will reduce the amount of physical stress and physical symptoms manifesting in our bodies which can lead to a reduction of inflammation. Recent studies (Monroy et al, 2023) post Covid-19, indicated that enriching the positive emotion of awe counteracted the effects of stress, built resilience and was a strong driver for human flourishing.
Keltner (2023) noted the importance of awe as a mitigator of “mean egotism [which] has become a defining social ill of our times” (p. 133). In other terms we tend to be more self-focused, individualistic in nature, and spend more time consumed by social media. He further explained that when we focus on ourselves, we tend to lack concern for others, which decreases prosocial behaviours, which then returns to the self most notably in areas such as “body image problems, self-harm, drug abuse, and eating disorders” (p. 133). Keltner explained that experiencing awe-inspiring moments quiets the default mode network, the area of the brain related to self-centeredness, and can diminish the ego. Recent studies (Song, et al. 2023), regarding the effects of awe are linked to humility and generosity, noting that awe shifts our attention away from ourselves, therefore, we feel less entitled, and more empathy towards others.
Experiences of awe may include tears or goosebumps and can often make you say ‘whoa’ what just happened? Kelter (2023) stated that the bodily responses associated with awe are the activation of the parasympathetic autonomic nervous system, which opens us up to the world. Keltner (2023) emphasized that even though sources of awe vary among individuals, awe experiences are deeply human. They are an emotional response to vast mysteries that invoke wonder and curiosity, and a sense of common humanity.
Personal Experiences of Awe
Keltner (2023) proposed that to practice awe we should start by tapping into our “childlike sense of wonder” (p. 105). Young children live in a state of awe daily as everything is a novelty to them. We, as adults, can become quite rigid in our thinking. We grow accustomed to knowing what things look like, what we expect to happen, and our own individualized way of thinking based on a sequence of events that have shaped our schemas over time.
How often do we truly take time to wonder? The moments exist if we are willing to tune into these when they arise. One summer afternoon, Chelan took her three-year-old outside with some pillows and blankets and they laid on the deck looking up at the sky. They saw airplanes, birds, clouds and slowly witnessed them disappear over the house. As a game, Chelan asked her daughter, “Gigi, what do you think we are going to see next?” and she responded, “a bird.” Sure enough a bird appeared. She was so excited, as was Chelan. Wow, Chelan thought that was pretty cool although chances were high that they would see a bird more than a plane. However, Chelan remembered Keltner’s (2023) words and tried her best to tap into wonderment, and what it is like to be a child. Chelan then asked, “Okay, what do you think we will see next?” Giga said, “a mommy bird and a Gia bird.” In her head Chelan immediately thought, not going to happen. However, what happened next blew her away. Within 10 seconds, two birds flew over the house together and both Chelan and Gigi screamed in delight. Each time Chelan thinks about this, she feels goosebumps. Chelan can place herself back on the deck, holding Gigi, visualizing those birds flying over the house, the blue sky, the look on her daughter’s face, seeing Gigi look at Chelan, how excited they were together and thinking, “did that just happen?” “How did that happen?”
Pat also recalls an awe moment when watering her plants in the backyard. As she watered a spider web emerged, shimmering in the water that just uncovered its existence. She sprayed it again and it held in place. The sun shone down on it and Pat remembered a teaching, Ani to pisi, from an Indigenous Elder about the Creator sending Ani to pisi to earth covering all of creation in a spider web. Thinking about how awesome it is that a spider web is so strong and beautiful, Pat took a closer look and spent time investigating the spider web. She let herself feel the smile on her face and tingling in her body and thought, “this is being awestruck.” Nature is one way to engage in wonderment, and there are others.
Practicing Awe
Keltner (2023) suggested visiting somewhere new, “each week, try to choose a new location” (p. 105) and potentially child and youth care practitioners could do this with those in their care. When we visit the same mundane places, we are less likely to notice or invite awe experiences. However, if we visit a new location, hear new sounds, and see new sights, we might have an increased opportunity for an awe experience. There may be some restrictions in child and youth care settings to visit new places, therefore, Kelter recognized that there is nothing wrong in spending time in your familiar spots or regular routes if you find that they fill you with awe. Kelter emphasized that, “the key is to recognize new features of the same old place” (p. 105). Therefore, in order to experience “everyday awe: look to the ordinary” (p. 138).
There are questions Keltner (2023) suggested we could consider that could leave one feeling curious or overcome with wonder. For example, some adapted questions to ask someone are: What was the first concert you saw that gave you goosebumps? Have you participated in a protest? Have you attended a sporting event with a roaring crowd? Have you ever encountered something so vast that made you feel small? Have you witnessed someone doing something kind for someone else that moved you to tears? These are some questions to ponder that may help to reflect on the repertoire of life experiences. Looking back could help with recognizing an awe experience or may assist in staying connected to the emotion and its benefits when feeling awe deprived.
Within the field of child and youth care, the individuals that practitioners work with may have a challenging relationship with awe. Adolescence is a time in life that is filled with emotional angst and involves a heightened preoccupation with self. This is a time when youth are the most concerned about themselves and what their peers think of them. They may spend most of their time indoors, glued to their phones, ipads, gaming, and creating a predominant online presence amongst various social media platforms. In addition, everything is posted online for others to view and make comments. For example, instead of an individual going out to a concert and having an awe experience, the concert goer is capturing it via video on their phone, and then it is posted on Snapchat, TikTok, and other platforms in anticipation of others commenting on their experience. The person does not really soak in the experience and gain the mental and physical benefits of awe.
When practicing gratitude and awe in child and youth care everyone should be encouraged to put their phone away and pay attention, so they do not miss a shared experience. Millennials, Gen Xs and Baby Boomers may have experienced awe-filled childhoods without smartphones, however, making room for technology for the current demographic in order to accommodate awe may be inevitable. If you are not able to take them to their first concert or event, watch Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour on TV and dance together, find awe inspiring videos online (looking at the natural wonders of the world) and write or draw feelings after the viewing. Incorporate a gratitude or awe inspired photo-journal. Capturing the awe experience to look back upon will allow for re-experiencing the event, but if the experience is deeply felt, it is not necessary to capture it in any other way.
Savoring
According to Lauzon and Green-Demers (2020) “savouring is the capacity to focus on pleasant experiences in order to intensify and prolong the experience of positive affect” (p. 1225). Paquette (2020) suggested that linking an awestruck event with savouring will allow a deeper emotional and sensory experience that can be recalled more easily due to the embedding of the experience in the body. We may engage in an event that cognitively we do not take in as awesome, however our body may have registered the experience. Chen and Mongrain (2021) suggested “awe could also be cultivated by conjuring up images of past experiences of astonishment and deep amazement” (p. 775).
To savour an experience, one needs to be present, recognize the moment as something that is awesome, identify the emotions that are being experienced from the awesome event and spend time experiencing the sensations related to the positive feelings of being awestruck. Savouring makes it easier to be transported back to that experience and have these same emotional and sensory experiences again even though the event is not occurring. Goosebumps, tears and other neurophysiology aspects may be present when re-experiencing awe because it has been savoured.
Awe experiences can be recalled weeks, months or years afterwards, if savoured. These savoured events can then be shared with others, and they too can find the event to be awesome. They could have similar sensory reactions when the event is described deeply and with details about the sensory and emotional responses to the event. This shared human experience leads to more connection, belonging and care toward others (Stellar et al., 2017). However, the opportunity to experience and savour awe might be missed because of a need for control.
Ketler (2023) explained that we live in a world where we seem to be in search of answers and are comforted by cognitive closure. Cognitive closure occurs when ambiguity is uncomfortable and instead, we need to create definitive answers. Kelter (2023) suggested that we do not need to have all the answers and being awestruck and savouring these experiences is what allows the pondering of big questions and allows for ambiguity. For those struggling with unstable mental health ambiguity might be a difficult experience however, a connection with those who care could make a difference.
Implications for Child and Youth Care Practice
For child and youth care practice, individuals are encouraged to engage in gratitude and awe as mental health interventions. It is important to look for opportunities to promote, teach and share the emotions of gratitude and awe with children, youth and young adults to establish and guide therapeutic relationships. There are many opportunities to implement gratitude and awe based on the suggestions mentioned, within therapeutic campus-based settings, short-stay specialized programs, after-school programming and secure-based treatment.
Nurturing opportunities for gratitude and awe are important to influence the emotions which impact personal and social well-being (Anderson et al., 2018). Shared gratitude and having awe fulfilled experiences are cost-effective, are profound and may have lasting effects for the young people with whom we work. Quite often the individual’s child and youth care practitioners encounter have not had these experiences, nor have they had people in their lives with whom to share these experiences. Therefore, practitioners are able to transform the landscape and the future mental health of children, youth and families.
Practitioners will need to take the initiative and think about their own gratitude and awe practices. We know children and youth are invested when we are invested and sharing these experiences together makes all the difference. If programming already incorporates nature-based activities, such as camping trips or hiking, take the opportunity to build in elements of gratitude and awe. If programming allows, visit a festival, attend a pride parade, take in the sights and sounds. Make music playlists that produce tears and goosebumps, volunteer at a shelter, participate together in random acts of kindness. The implications of these practices will likely create a more relaxed environment, faster ability to regulate emotions, happier children and youth, as well as more satisfied staff.
The intervention noted throughout this article should not be underestimated. The child and youth care practitioner can change the trajectory for a child, youth or family when we engage in these practices. Gratitude and awe-inspiring practices, such as recognizing moral beauty will demonstrate that the world does consist of those who are kind, compassionate and there is goodness in the world.
References
Anderson, C. L., Monroy, M., & Keltner, D. (2018). Awe in nature heals: Evidence from military veterans, at-risk youth, and college students. Emotion, 18(8), 1195–1202. doi.org/10.1037/emo0000442
Armenta, C. N., Fritz, M. M., Walsh, L. C., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2022). Satisfied yet striving: Gratitude fosters life satisfaction and improvement motivation in youth. Emotion, 22(5), 1004–1016. doi.org/10.1037/emo0000896
Bai, Y., Ocampo, J., Jin, G., Chen, S., Benet-Martinez, V., Monroy, M., Anderson, C., & Keltner, D. (2021). Awe, daily stress, and elevated life satisfaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 120(4), 837–860. doi.org/10.1037/pspa0000267
Baumsteiger, R., Mangan, S., Cotton Bronk, K., & Bono, G. (2019) An integrative intervention for cultivating gratitude among adolescents and young adults, The Journal of Positive Psychology, 14(6), 807-819. doi: 10.1080/17439760.2019.1579356
Chen, S. K., & Mongrain, M. (2021) Awe and the interconnected self. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 16(6), 770-778. DOI:10.1080/17439760.2020.1818808
Jindal, M., Arora, R., Puri, K., & Nanda, K. (2022). Self-esteem and gratitude as predictors of mental wellbeing. International Journal of Multidisciplinary and Current Educational Research 4(5), 105-110 IJMCER_K0450105110.pdf
Keltner, D. (2023). Awe: The new science of everyday wonder and how it can transform your life. New York, NY: Penguin Press.
Lauzon, A., Green-Demers, I. (2020). More of a good thing is even better: Towards a new conceptualization of the nature of savouring experiences. Journal of Happiness Studies, 21, 1225–1249. doi.org/10.1007/s10902-019-00125-7
Monroy, M., & Keltner, D. (2023). Awe as a pathway to mental and physical health. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 18(2), 309-320. doi.org/10.1177/17456916221094856
Monroy, M., Uğurlu, Ö., Zerwas, F., Corona, R., Keltner, D., Eagle, J., & Amster, M. (2023). The influences of daily experiences of awe on stress, somatic health, and well-being: A longitudinal study during COVID-19. Scientific Reports, 13(1), 9336. doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-35200-w
Paquette, J. (2020). Awestruck: How embracing wonder can make you happier, healthier and more connected. Bolder, CO: Shambhala.
Smith, J. A., Newman, K. M., Marsh, J., & Keltner, D. (2020). Gratitude project: How the science of thankfulness can rewire our brains for resilience, optimism and the greater good. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger.
Song, J. Y., Klebl, C., & Bastian, B. (2023). Awe promotes moral expansiveness via the small-self. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1-13. doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1097627
Stellar, J. E., Gordon, A. M., Piff, P. K., Cordaro, D., Anderson, C. L., Bai, Y., Maruskin, L. A., & Keltner, D. (2017). Self-transcendent emotions and their social functions: Compassion, gratitude, and awe bind us to others through prosociality. Emotion Review, 9(3), 200–207. doi.org/10.1177/1754073916684557
Wong, J., Brown, J., Armenta, C., Lyubomirsky, S., Allen, S., Gordon, A., & Newman, K., (2022). Why gratitude is good for us. In J. A. Smith, K. M., Newman, J., Marsh., & D. Keltner (eds). Gratitude project: How the science of thankfulness can rewire our brains for resilience, optimism and the greater good. (pp. 38-52). Oakland, CA: New Harbinger.
