Walkley, M & Cox, L. (2013). Building
Trauma-informed schools and communities. Children & Schools. Vol. 35(2),
p123-126.
In article, authors
Meg Walkley, MSW and Tory L, Cox, LCSW / PPS, discuss the effects of trauma on
the development of children and adolescents, describing how “trauma-informed”
care can help to improve outcomes. Children are exposed to a range of stressors, some of which help
to build important coping skills. Traumatic stressors, such as child abuse,
domestic and community violence, accidents, chronic pain, and natural
disasters, can negatively affect development.
These negative
outcomes may include:
·
Altered brain
structure, by affecting alterations in the key neural systems involved in the
response to stress response. Trauma-exposed youth are often hyper-vigilant,
making it easy for them to become overwhelmed and undermining their capacity
for self-regulation and anger management.
·
Impaired cognitive and
physical development. As exposure to adversity goes up, so does the likelihood
of long-term developmental consequences. Vulnerable youth who are living in
difficult neighborhoods or attending under-resourced, violent schools are at
particularly high risk or poor outcomes. (Shonkoff & Richmond, 2008).
As the authors, note
trauma-affected children are often mislabeled with a range of diagnoses such as
·
attention deficit
disorder
·
oppositional-defiant
disorder
·
conduct disorder
which often leads to
the treatment of symptoms of trauma, rather than to the implementation of
effective interventions for healing
The authors recommend
early prevention and intervention programs that are more responsive to
trauma-affected children. As they note, positive, nurturing experiences (such
as caring mentoring relationships) in early childhood can help “build the
foundation for lifelong learning and good health.” Programs should develop a
continuum of care, as the same experience will have different effects on
different youth, depending on their age and circumstances.
The authors call
particular attention to the work of Perry and his colleagues at the Child
Trauma Academy have developed the Neurosequential
Model of Therapeutics (Perry, 2009). This team uses the term
CAPPO to describe the trauma responsive systems. That acronym, which the
authors have summarized below, has implication for mentoring:
·
Calm: aims to
keep both you and the child(ren)
you work with in a relaxed, focused state.
·
Attuned: asks you to
be aware of children’s nonverbal signals: body language, tone of voice,
emotional scare. These signals tell you how much and what types of activity and
learning the child can currently handle.
·
Present: requires that
you focus your attention on the child(ren) you are with, that you be in the
moment. Pervasive mistrust of others is a key characteristic of children who
have experienced trauma. Despite their wariness, these children need to and,
with support, can form secure relationships with loving adults.
·
Predictable: asks that
you provide children with routine, structured, and repeated positive
experiences that they need to thrive. Children who have experienced trauma view
the world as scary and unreliable. Being predictable in your actions and
routines will help children feel safe.
·
Don’t let Children’s
Emotions Escalate Your Own: requires you to remain in control of your emotions
and of your expression of them. When children lose control and become angry,
frustrated, overly excited, or scared, our own emotions can spiral as
well. When this happens, we can escalate the situation and trigger further
trauma responses in children.”
As the authors conclude,
there is a need for collaboration between all who touch the life of a
child. Program staff who take the initiative to become trauma informed
practitioners are likely to be in a better position to serve the needs of
vulnerable youth.
Additional references
and resources
·
inSocialWork podcast:
Implementing Sanctuary Model in an organizationhttp://www.socialwork.buffalo.edu/podcast/episode_multipart.asp?mp=farragher_sanctuary
·
10 Dr. Sandra Bloom
Sanctuary Model (describes how she realized the need for it):http://www.socialwork.buffalo.edu/community/trauma-conference.asp
·
National Center on
Trauma and Trauma-Informed Care: http://www.samhsa.gov/nctic/trauma.asp
·
Videos: Sandra Bloom,
Trauma 101 and the Sanctuary Model:http://www.socialwork.buffalo.edu/community/trauma-conference.asp
·
Bloom, S. L., &
Farragher, B. (2013). Destroying sanctuary: the crisis in human
services delivery systems. New York: Oxford University Press.
·
Smyth, N.J. blog post;
Trauma-informed social work practice: What is it and why should we care? http://njsmyth.wordpress.com/2013/04/19/trauma-informed-social-work-practice/
·
National Child Traumatic
Stress Network (n.d.). Birth Parents with Trauma Histories and the Child
Welfare System: A Guide for Child Welfare Staff. Retrieved from
http://chronicle.umbmentoring.org/trauma-informed-care-implications-for-mentoring/
Ret. 6-30-14
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