Resources

Innovations in Implementation of Trauma-Informed Care Practices in Youth Residential Treatment

Innovations in Implementation of Trauma-Informed Care Practices in Youth Residential Treatment: A Curriculum for Organizational Change

Victoria LathamHummer University of South Florida

Norín Dollard University of South Florida

John Robst University of South Florida

Mary I. Armstrong University of South Florida

This article reviews the literature on trauma and children in the child welfare system and discusses a study of trauma-informed practices in OOH treatment programs and the curriculum Creating Trauma-Informed Care Environments, which resulted from study findings.

Directions to Hartford Training Location

Directions to our new Hartford Training Location

Trauma and Juvenile Justice

THE JUSTICE POLICY INSTITUTE RELEASES BRIEF THAT EXAMINES RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CHILDHOOD TRAUMA AND JUVENILE JUSTICE INVOLVEMENT

The Justice Policy Institute has released “Healing Invisible Wounds: Why Investing in Trauma-Informed Care for Children Makes Sense.”

The brief examines the relationship between childhood trauma and involvement in the juvenile justice system. According to the brief, while research shows that up to 34 percent of children in the United States have experienced at least one traumatic event, between 75 and 93 percent of youth entering the juvenile justice system annually are estimated to have experienced some degree of trauma.

Resources:

“Healing Invisible Wounds: Why Investing in Trauma-Informed Care for Children Makes Sense” is available online at www.justicepolicy.org/images/upload/10-07_REP_HealingInvisibleWounds_JJ-PS.pdf.

For further information about the brief, see the Justice Policy Institute’s press release at www.justicepolicy.org/content-hmID=1811&smID=1581&ssmID=102.htm#press

Closing Rituals for Risking Connection© Training

Five options for closing ceremonies to be used at the end of Risking Connection© training.

Beyond Point and Level Systems

Wanda K. Mohr, PhD, APRN, FAAN, University of Medicine and Dentistry, New Jersey; Andres Martin, MD, Yale University; James N. Olson, PhD. University of Texas–Permian Basin; Andres J. Pumariega, MD, Temple University, Nicole Branca, MSN, APRN; University of Medicine and Dentistry, New Jersey

Many residential treatment facilities and child inpatient units in the United States have been structured by way of motivational programming such as the point and/or level systems. On the surface, they appear to be a straightforward contingency management tool that is based on social learning theory and operant principles. In this article, the authors argue that the assumptions upon which point and level systems are based do not hold up to close empirical scrutiny or theoretical validity, and that point and level system programming is actually counterproductive with some children, and at times can precipitate dangerous clinical situations, such as seclusion and restraint. In this article, the authors critique point and level system programming and assert that continuing such programming is antithetical to individualized, culturally, and developmentally appropriate treatment, and the authors explore the resistance and barriers to changing traditional ways of “doing things.” Finally, the authors describe a different approach to providing treatment that is based on a collaborative problem-solving approach and upon which other successful models of treatment have been based.

Therapy for Children with Attachment Disorder

Ideas for therapists including Grounding Techniques. Grounding refers to methods for stopping the re-experiencing of a trauma, or related symptom, and getting back to the here and now. Often those with a trauma history experience such symptoms as flashbacks (a sudden, vivid memory of the event) or dissociation (various ways of disconnecting with traumatic experiences mentally, emotionally, or both by disconnecting in current reality). from  The Attachment Disorder Site.

Shame and Attachment

Understanding Shame and How to Help from The Attachment Disorder Site.

School Tips for Reactive Attachment Disordered Children

Practical ideas for parents from The Attachment Disorder Site.

Parenting the Child with Attachment Difficulties

Practical ideas for parents from The Attachment Disorder Site.

Clinical Implications of Neuroscience

Clinical Implications of Neuroscience

Research in PTSD

BESSEL A. VAN DER KOLK

Boston University School of Medicine, The Trauma Center, 1269 Beacon Street,

Brookline, Massachusetts, USA Q1

ABSTRACT: The research showing how exposure to extreme stress affects brain function is making important contributions to understanding the nature of traumatic stress. This includes the notion that traumatized individuals are vulnerable to react to sensory information with subcortically initiated responses that are irrelevant, and often harmful, in the present. Reminders of traumatic experiences activate brain regions that support intense emotions, and decrease activation in the central nervous system (CNS) regions involved in (a) the integration of sensory input with motor output, (b) the modulation of physiological arousal, and (c) the capacity to communicate experience in words. Failures of attention and memory in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) interfere with the capacity to engage in the present: traumatized individuals “lose their way in the world.” This article discusses the implications of this research by suggesting that effective treatment needs to involve (1) learning to tolerate feelings and sensations by increasing the capacity for interoception, (2) learning to modulate arousal, and (3) learning that after confrontation with physical helplessness it is essential to engage in taking effective action.