Resources
The Age of Overwhelm by ISBN: 9781523094738Publication Date: 2018-07-10In ways big and small, we are all responsible for contributing to systemic change where change is due. There is plenty of heavy lifting to be done. But to contribute effectively--to have a foundation to manage that at all--we must tend to our own selves in parallel. We simply can't contribute skillfully and do our best work out in the world if we aren't also taking care of the place where we have the most agency, authority, and capacity to change- Within ourselves. It is indescribably powerful and dignity-preserving to focus on what one can do instead of what one can't do. Overwhelmed shows us how to pay attention to what's in our individual control and what's in our collective control, and how to tend to both of these realities--practically--in such a way as to mitigate harm, cultivate our ability to be decent and equitable, and to act with integrity. Written with compassion for people short on time, resources, and capacity, Overwhelmed offers a "less is more" framework to help ease the burden of overwhelm, restore our perspective, and give us strength to navigate what is yet to come.
Healing a Community by ISBN: 9781942094906Publication Date: 2019-02-12Mass trauma has made entire towns and cities into monuments of heartbreak and loss. Here is a book to guide the communal recovery. After the horrific tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, local caregivers, civic leaders, and first responders had the daunting task of navigating emotional and physical trauma as they stitched their community back together. The recovery process takes years, and as the coordinator of the Newtown Recovery and Resiliency Team, Melissa Glaser managed the town's response. She developed a unique set of therapeutic and transferable best practices that other communitiescan learn from. The impact of an intense media presence and the long-term financial needs of recovery work are also included inHealing a Community. Through heartbreaking insights, Glaser conveys the importance of meeting traumatized individuals where they are at in the process. Lessons learned in Newtown can be used to create a universal community mental health disaster plan so leaders, therapists, and families know what to do the next time tragedy occurs.
The Body Keeps the Score by ISBN: 9780670785933Publication Date: 2014-09-25A pioneering researcher and one of the world's foremost experts on traumatic stress offers a bold new paradigm for healing Trauma is a fact of life. Veterans and their families deal with the painful aftermath of combat; one in five Americans has been molested; one in four grew up with alcoholics; one in three couples have engaged in physical violence. Such experiences inevitably leave traces on minds, emotions, and even on biology. Sadly, trauma sufferers frequently pass on their stress to their partners and children. Renowned trauma expert Bessel van der Kolk has spent over three decades working with survivors. In The Body Keeps the Score, he transforms our understanding of traumatic stress, revealing how it literally rearranges the brain's wiring--specifically areas dedicated to pleasure, engagement, control, and trust. He shows how these areas can be reactivated through innovative treatments including neurofeedback, mindfulness techniques, play, yoga, and other therapies. Based on Dr. van der Kolk's own research and that of other leading specialists, The Body Keeps the Score offers proven alternatives to drugs and talk therapy--and a way to reclaim lives.
When Things Fall Apart by ISBN: 9781611803433Publication Date: 2016-06-07Pema Chödrön's perennially best-selling classic on overcoming life's difficulties cuts to the heart of spirituality and personal growth--now in a newly designed 20th-anniversary edition with a new afterword by Pema--makes for a perfect gift and addition to one's spiritual library. How can we live our lives when everything seems to fall apart--when we are continually overcome by fear, anxiety, and pain? The answer, Pema Chödrön suggests, might be just the opposite of what you expect. Here, in her most beloved and acclaimed work, Pema shows that moving toward painful situations and becoming intimate with them can open up our hearts in ways we never before imagined. Drawing from traditional Buddhist wisdom, she offers life-changing tools for transforming suffering and negative patterns into habitual ease and boundless joy.
Violence and Trauma in the Lives of Children [2 Volumes] by ISBN: 9781440852589Publication Date: 2018-08-09Explains the neurological, emotional, and behavioral impacts of violence and trauma experienced by newborns, infants, children, and teenagers. Traumatic events known as adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can affect children physically, mentally, and emotionally, sometimes with long-term health and behavioral effects. Abuse, neglect, exposure to community and domestic violence, and household dysfunction all have the potential to alter brain development and behavior, but few people are able to recognize or respond to trauma in children. Given the prevalence of childhood exposure to violence--with one in four children ages 5 to 15 living in households with only moderate levels of safety and nurturance and infants and children ages 0 to 3 comprising the highest percentage of those maltreated--it is imperative that students and professionals alike be able to identify types and consequences of violence and trauma. This book provides readers with the information they need in order to know how to detect and prevent ACEs and to help children who have lived through them. Explains the effects of a range of types of violence and trauma, including child abuse, sexual abuse, family violence, teen dating violence, loss of parent or caregiver, exposure to natural disaster, and more Addresses the impacts of violence and trauma during infancy and early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence Details mental health interventions to encourage resilience and posttraumatic growth Describes how public systems from schools to pediatric and obstetrical clinics to juvenile justice systems identify and work with children affected by violence and trauma
Trauma-Informed Drama Therapy by ISBN: 9780398087777Publication Date: 2014-03-27This book examines how drama therapists conceptualize and respond to relational and systemic trauma across systems of care including mental health clinics, schools, and communities burdened by historical and current wounds. The chapters in this book offer drama therapists compelling examples of emerging models of trauma-informed drama therapy, as well as offering experienced practitioners the opportunity to question the assumptions made by prevailing paradigms that underlie our practice. The introductory chapters review the influence and history of trauma theory and treatment on drama therapy, followed by two sections: The first presents readers with seven emerging approaches and the second section offers detailed applications to specific populations, ending with a meta-analysis of drama therapy in the treatment of trauma. This ground-breaking book will also be useful for creative arts therapists, mental health professionals, educators, students and for many others interested in the role of the drama and performance in the treatment of trauma.
Disability Psychotherapy by ISBN: 9781782203162Publication Date: 2015-12-23Much has been written about cognitive development in those who are cognitively impaired. Much is written about attachment for people who don't have disabilities. Yet people with disabilities have suffered discrimination and neglect of their emotional needs, perhaps because the pain of difference cannot be tolerated, perhaps because of lack of will or lack of knowledge. This book aims to help to fill the knowledge gap and to encourage others to overcome their resistance to facing the pain, and will be an important contribution to our understanding of the world of disability and emotional deprivation. In this book - a result of over twenty years experience with people who have disabilities and additional distress as a result of traumatic life experiences - an attempt is made to bring together what we know about early emotional development and the consequences of failure to provide an emotionally nurturing experience, and the results are then applied to people with disabilities.
Trauma Informed Care in the Perinatal Period by ISBN: 9781780460536Publication Date: 2015-10-15Pregnancy is a crucial point of intersection between generations. During pregnancy, women with a childhood maltreatment history have a 12-fold increased risk of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Although awareness of the need for trauma-informed care and trauma-specific interventions is increasing in the fields of addiction and mental health treatment, there are no front-line programmes for the childbearing year that address maltreatment-related PTSD. The authors address these intergenerational cycles of childhood maltreatment and psychiatric vulnerability; they provide a resource to facilitate incorporating trauma-informed care and trauma-specific interventions into maternity services; and they signal the opportunities for improving outcomes for childbearing women with a history of childhood maltreatment.This volume provides an overview of information that child welfare and perinatal professionals can use in their work to move towards providing trauma informed care and developing trauma-specific interventions to improve intergenerational outcomes.
Beyond PTSD by ISBN: 9781615371105Publication Date: 2018-10-17Impulsivity, poor judgment, moodiness, risky behavior. "You don't understand." "I don't care." "Whatever, bro." Engaging and working with teenagers is tough. Typically, we attribute this to the storms of adolescence. But what if some of the particularly problematic behaviors we see in teens -- self-destructive behaviors, academic issues, substance abuse, reluctance to engage in therapy or treatment -- point to unspoken trauma? Teens nationwide struggle with traumatic stress related to poverty, abuse, neglect, bullying, traumatic loss, and interpersonal or community violence. But youth are also generally reluctant to disclose or discuss experiences of traumatic stress, and adults working with these youth may not immediately perceive the connection between prior trauma and the teen's current risky or concerning behavior. Beyond PTSD: Helping and Healing Teens Exposed to Trauma helps adults recognize and understand traumatized youth, and provides concrete strategies for talking to and engaging the teen, overcoming resistance, and finding the most appropriate evidence-based treatment approach for them. Nearly twenty contributors pull from their extensive and varied experience working in schools and hospitals to child welfare programs, juvenile justice facilities, pediatric offices, and with families to provide concrete tips to manage the challenges and opportunities of working with trauma-exposed adolescents. Chapters present trauma-informed approaches to youth with aggression, suicide and self-injury, psychosis, and school refusal; youth with physical or developmental disabilities or medical comorbidities, those in juvenile justice or child welfare; teen parents; and LGBTQ youth, among others. Throughout the text, tables compare different types of trauma therapies and provide information about how treatments might be adapted to fit a specific teen or setting. Readers will also find "real life" case vignettes and concrete, specific clinical pearls -- even examples of language to use -- to demonstrate how to work effectively with difficult-to-engage teens with complex symptoms and behaviors. Written to be practical and accessible for clinicians, social workers, pediatricians, school counselors, and even parents, with the information, context, and strategies they need to help the teen in front of them.
Life Story Therapy with Traumatized Children by ISBN: 9781849052726Publication Date: 2012-05-15Life Story Therapy is an approach designed to enable children to explore, question and understand the past events of their lives. It aims to secure their future through strengthening attachment with their carers and providing the opportunity to develop a healthy sense of self and a feeling of wellbeing. This comprehensive overview lays out the theory underlying life story therapy, including an accessible explanation of contemporary research in neurobiology and trauma. Featuring tried and tested ideas, with tools and templates illustrated through instructive case studies, the author identifies how life story therapy can be implemented in practice. Finally, the relationships between life story therapy and traditional 'talking' therapies are explored. Life Story Therapy with Traumatized Children is essential reading for those working with children and adolescents, including social workers, teachers, child psychotherapists, residential care staff, long-term carers, psychologists and other professionals.
Trauma by ISBN: 0231188870Publication Date: 2019-11-19An expanded and revised edition of the first social work text to focus specifically on the theoretical and clinical issues associated with trauma, this comprehensive anthology incorporates the latest research in trauma theory and clinical applications. It presents key developments in the conceptualization of trauma and covers a wide range of clinical treatments. Trauma features coverage of emerging therapeutic modalities and clinical themes, focusing on the experiences of historically disenfranchised, marginalized, oppressed, and vulnerable groups. Clinical chapters discuss populations and themes including cultural and historical trauma among Native Americans, the impact of bullying on children and adolescents, the use of art therapy with traumatically bereaved children, historical and present-day trauma experiences of incarcerated African American women, and the effects of trauma treatment on the therapist. Other chapters examine trauma-related interventions derived from diverse theoretical frameworks, such as cognitive-behavioral theory, attachment theory, mindfulness theory, and psychoanalytic theory.
Building Trauma-sensitive Schools by ISBN: 1681252457Publication Date: 2019-01-01In the United States, at least one in four youth experiences trauma severe enough to negatively affect their school success.* Give hope and help to these students with this reader-friendly how-to guide, your springboard for building responsive, trauma-sensitive preK-12 schools. Drawing on her extensive experience as a school counselor, trainer, and mother, trauma expert Jen Alexander delivers a comprehensive framework for building a safe, supportive school environment that helps all students learn and thrive. You'll start with an evidence-based introduction to the profound impact of trauma on a child's development, attachment, and behavior. Then you'll get an effective multi-tier system of support (MTSS) for developing a trauma-sensitive learning environment, including both universal strategies (Tier 1) and more intensive interventions (Tier 2 and Tier 3) for students who need more support. Compelling anecdotes and sample scripts illuminate challenges and solutions, and the included forms and worksheets are valuable tools for helping educators build the mindset and skills necessary for becoming trauma-sensitive. With this engaging, highly practical guide to what works and why, your school team will gain insights and develop action plans that make a real difference in the lives of all kids, including our most vulnerable youth. DISCOVER HOW TO: make five key shifts in the way you view and approach students, so that you (TM)re better equipped to support themwork together to prioritize resilience by actively putting relationships first in your school implement universal instructional strategies that foster safety, connection, regulation, and learning for all studentsuse special supports, supplemental instruction, and coaching when universal strategies aren't enoughcollaborate effectively with families and colleagues to meet each student's needsincorporate restorative discipline practices that focus on restitution, not retributioncreate a personalized self-care plan to promote wellness and reduce the effects of job-related stress PRACTICAL MATERIALS: Creative activities for teachers, powerful case stories, sample dialogues and scripts for educators and counselors, reflection and brainstorming worksheets, downloadable forms, and templates and handouts for use with students. Build resilience by helping all studentsFeel safeBe connectedGet regulatedLearn * National Child Traumatic Stress Network Schools Committee, 2008
Film Description: After surviving a childhood of abuse and neglect, Tonier “Neen” Cain lived on the streets for two nightmarish decades, where she endured unrelenting violence, hunger and despair while racking up 66 criminal convictions related to her addiction. Incarcerated and pregnant in 2004, treatment for her lifetime of trauma offered her a way out... and up. Her story illustrates the consequences that untreated trauma has on individuals and society at-large, including mental health problems, addiction, homelessness and incarceration. Today, she is a nationally renowned speaker and educator on the devastation of trauma and the hope of recovery.
Film Length: 54:03
**MEID and Password required to view
Resilience
Film Description: Resilience is a one-hour documentary that delves into the science of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and the birth of a new movement to treat and prevent Toxic Stress. Now understood to be one of the leading causes of everything from heart disease and cancer to substance abuse and depression, extremely stressful experiences in childhood can alter brain development and have lifelong effects on health and behavior. However, what’s predictable is preventable. Physicians, educators, social workers and communities are daring to talk about the effects of divorce, abuse and neglect. And they’re using cutting edge science to help the next generation break the cycles of adversity and disease.
Film Length: 60 minutes
**MEID and Password required to view
Film Description: “Stressed brains can’t learn.” That was the nugget of neuroscience that Jim Sporleder, principal of a high school riddled with violence, drugs and truancy, took away from an educational conference in 2010. Three years later, the number of fights at Lincoln Alternative High School had gone down by 75% and the graduation rate had increased five-fold. Following six students over the course of a school year, we see staff try a new approach to discipline: understanding and treatment rather than judgment and suspension. Using a combination of vérité and revealing diary cam footage, Paper Tigers shows that just one caring adult can help break the cycle of adversity in a young person’s life.
Film Length: 102 minutes
**MEID and Password required to view
An Overview of Trauma-Informed Care: American Academy of Pediatrics - Reaching Teens
Film Description: In this video, adolescent medicine specialist Kenneth R. Ginsburg, MD, MS Ed, of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, explains the importance of understanding ACEs when caring for children and teens who have experienced trauma. Topics include: the roots of trauma; trauma prevention; nature vs. nurture, and the effects of stress hormones on the brain. From The American Academy of Pediatrics publication "Reaching Teens: Strength-Based Communication Strategies to Build Resilience and Support Healthy Adolescent Development."
Film Length: 22:34
**MEID and Password required to view
Wounded Places: Confronting Childhood PTSD in America's Shell-Shocked Cities
Film Description: In neighborhoods ravaged by years of disinvestment and racial exclusion, too many children and young people like Caheri Gutíerrez, Antonio Carter, and Javier Arango wrestle with sudden rages, nightmares, inability to trust, depression, and difficulty concentrating in school. Traumatized by violence, poverty, and adversity as disturbing as some war zones, they show symptoms similar to PTSD—except there is no “post.” But peer counselors, doctors, and community organizers are blazing a new model of trauma-informed care. Rather than ask, “What’s wrong with you?” they ask, “What happened to you?” and "How can we help you heal?" Through trauma-informed care, Caheri and Javier became remarkable counselors now working with other young people on how to transform trauma. Children can flourish, and so will the nation, when we invest in impoverished communities rather than neglect them.
Film Length: 42:28
**MEID and Password required to view
- ACEs ConnectionACEs Connection is a social network that recognizes the impact of a wide variety of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in shaping adult behavior and health, and that promotes trauma-informed and resilience-building practices and policies in all families, organizations, systems and communities. We support communities to accelerate the science of adverse childhood experiences to solve our most intractable problems. We believe that we can create a resilient world where people thrive.
- Arizona ACES ConsortiumThe Arizona Adverse Childhood Experiences Consortium
promotes a greater understanding of the impacts of toxic stress and trauma, and supports efforts to address and prevent them. - Arizona RecoversArizona Recovers, formerly Addiction Haven, is a grassroots organization dedicated to changing the conversation surrounding addiction, mental health, and trauma.
- Adverse Childhood Experiences (CDC)Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) have a tremendous impact on future violence victimization and perpetration, and lifelong health and opportunity. Working together, we can help create neighborhoods, communities, and a world in which every child can thrive. Learn more about preventing ACEs in your community by assuring safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments.
- Data Resource Center for Child & Adolescent HealthEstablished in 2003, the mission of the Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative’s Data Resource Center for Child and Adolescent Health (DRC) is to expedite and support effective use of data from the National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) to improve child, youth, family and community health and well-being in the US. The DRC advances the use of the National Survey of Children's Health, led by HRSA MCHB.
- Trauma-Informed Care on a College Campus (ACHA)The American College Health Association (ACHA) has served as the voice for student health and wellness. Through advocacy, research and education, ACHA stands at the forefront of issues that impact the health and wellness of our college students.
- Systems Measures of a Trauma-Informed Approach: A Systematic ReviewInterest in trauma-informed approaches has grown substantially. These approaches are characterized by integrating understanding of trauma throughout a program, organization, or system to enhance the quality, effectiveness, and delivery of services provided to individuals and groups. However, variation in definitions of trauma-informed approaches, coupled with underdeveloped research on measurement, poses challenges for evaluating the effectiveness of models designed to support a trauma-informed approach. This systematic review of peer-reviewed and gray literature identified 49 systems-based measures that were created to assess the extent to which relational, organizational, and community/system practices were trauma-informed. Measures were included if they assessed at least one component of a trauma-informed approach, were not screening or diagnostic instruments, were standardized, were relevant to practices addressing the psychological impacts of trauma, were printed in English, and were published between 1988 and 2018. Most (77.6%) measures assessed organizational-level staff and climate characteristics. There remain several challenges to this emerging field, including inconsistently reported psychometric data, redundancy across measures, insufficient evidence of a link to stakeholder outcomes, and limited information about measurement development processes. We discuss these opportunities and challenges and their implications for future research and practice.
- Trauma-Informed Programs Based in Schools: Linking Concepts to Practices and Assessing the EvidenceWhen children experience stress and adversity in their homes and communities, schools become a critically important setting in which to intervene and foster their resilience. Changing practices within schools so that vulnerable and traumatized children are better understood and more compassionately served is a goal shared by many school professionals, yet schools remain poorly equipped to address the needs of these children. Any number of school-based programs have the potential to benefit children with an elevated risk for academic difficulties and mental health disorders, although questions remain as to which programs are most promising, effective, and sustainable. Questions also remain about which programs best serve diverse populations and which have potential to reach the largest number of children, including those who do not outwardly manifest behaviors consistent with an underlying disorder but nonetheless require support. In this review, we take stock of existing programs used in schools to address the social, emotional, and academic needs of children with trauma histories. We summarize components of a various trauma-focused programs, categorized as: (a) individual and group-based approaches, (b) classroom-based approaches, and (c) school-wide approaches. For each category, we review and comment on the state and quality of research findings and provide illustrative examples from the literature to show how programs address trauma in the school context. Findings of the review suggest that empirical evidence currently favors individual and group-based approaches, although classroom-based and school-wide programs may be better positioned for integration, access to services, and sustainability. Implications and recommendations center on future research, practice, and policy.
- Increasing Trauma-Informed Awareness and Practice in Higher EducationBackground: Traumatic experiences across the lifespan can affect an individual's physical, social, and emotional health and cognitive development. There has been an increased focus on trauma-informed initiatives in various public and health care sectors, but these initiatives are lacking in higher education.
Method: A pre-post survey design was used in a trauma-informed professional development session. The survey evaluated educator's knowledge and perceptions of trauma-informed care (TIC) and trauma-informed educational strategies (TIES). Select interviews were then conducted to further analyze knowledge and perception related to TIC and TIES.
Results: The results demonstrated an increase in knowledge of TIC and TIES, as well as an improved ability to support students. P values were statistically significant at <.05.
Conclusion: The integration of a trauma-informed professional development session for all educators is the first step in the integration of TIC in higher education and a transition to a trauma-sensitive culture.