Presented by: Arabella Perez, LCSW Director THRIVE Initiative How Trauma Impacts all of us and How...

Presented by:

Arabella Perez, LCSWDirectorTHRIVE Initiative

How Trauma Impacts all of us and How we can be Trauma-Informed

Champions Leading a Trauma-Informed Family Movement!

Carol TiernanDirectorG.E.A.R. Parent Network

working together for a brighter tomorrow

Objectives for Today

1. What is trauma?2. How does trauma influence a family

organization? 3. What is Trauma-Informed?4. How do we educate families and caregivers

about the strain of trauma and resiliency?5. How can I be part of a trauma-informed

family movement/family organization?


What is Trauma and Why Does it Matter?• The personal experience of interpersonal violence

including sexual abuse, physical abuse, severe neglect, loss, and/or the witnessing of violence, terrorism and/or disasters. NASMHPD, 2004

• Why should you care as leaders and members of family organization ?

• Evidence – Adverse Childhood Experiences and local research

• Preventable health and human event with enormous societal cost


What is Trauma and Why Does it Matter?Trauma is:

• Pervasive• Broad and diverse in impact• Deep and life-shaping• Often self-perpetuating and differentially affects the more

vulnerable• Apparent in how people approach services• Sometimes caused by service system which has often been

traumatizing and/or re-traumatizing

Trauma is not:• When you get a poor performance review• When you have a bad day• To be generalized to such an extent that you minimize the true

scope of trauma as defined


Adverse Childhood Experiences Study


Maine Data

N=101


Maine Data

Did you know...?Children and youth who experience trauma are less likely to receive a formal PTSD diagnosis than adults. This is because children and youth react to trauma differently. Instead, research has found that children who have experienced trauma are often diagnosed with separation anxiety disorder, oppositional defiance disorder, phobic disorders, and ADHD (Ford et al, 2000; Husain, Allwood, Bell, 2008; Daud & Rydelius, 2009).

N=88


So What To Do With This Data

• Change the way we think about how trauma impacts families!

• How did this Project Director and Family Director choose to work together?

• The journey to become trauma-informed meant trainings and changing policy and practice.


Trauma-Informed Principles

Instead of asking “what is wrong with you?” a trauma-informed approach asks

“what has happened to you?”


The Trauma-Informed Principles

1. Safety2. Trustworthiness3. Choice4. Collaboration5. Empowerment6. Language Access and Cultural Competency


Traditional versus Trauma-Informed

• Understanding of Trauma

• Understanding of the child/youth survivor

• Understanding of services

• Understanding of the service relationship


Resiliency

• Children acquire the attributes of resiliency through the opportunities which they are given and the circumstances they are exposed to.

• Parents who appear to be coping well with stress may also provide a good coping model for children. The general community can likewise play an effective role in enhancing resiliency, when it too provides children and young people with opportunities for participation and access to resources such as health care, education, recreation, housing and employment.

• Protective factors generally comprise three broad categories: Caring and support Positive and high expectations Opportunities for participation


Parent Resilience

“The #1 predictor…that a child will develop socially, emotionally, cognitively, etc. is the

parent’s self-understanding, or how you have made sense of your own childhood experiences,

good or bad. It’s never too late to make sense of your life and

what happened to you.”

Dr. Daniel Siegel, Co-Author of Parenting From the Inside Out: How a Deeper Self-Understanding Can Help You Raise Children Who Thrive. From a lecture at Parents as Teachers National Conference, 4-5-07


The Realities That We Face

• Family and caregivers experience of trauma• Triggers•Personal•Systemic•Societal

• Stressors• Vicarious Trauma• Stigma• Self care issues


Action Planning

• Identify steps that family advocacy organizations could take to become trauma-informed:

What supports need to be in place?What resources are currently available? What barriers may get in the way of doing the

work ?What would success look like?


Conclusion, Resources and Contact Information

www.thriveinitiative.orgwww.gearparentnetwork.com

www.nctsn.org (national child traumatic stress)www.chadwickcenter.org

www.acestudy.orgwww.nccp.org (national center for children in poverty)

http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/nctic/ (national center for trauma-informed care)

For more information please contact: [email protected]

[email protected]

Presented by: Arabella Perez, LCSW Director THRIVE Initiative How Trauma Impacts all of us and How...

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