This 1 ½ hour presentation discusses the neurobiology of trauma. Traumatic childhood experiences have a major impact on many different areas of functioning. The participant will gain an understanding of the impact that childhood traumatic stress has on the children served by the child welfare agencies. They will understand how the child welfare system can help mitigate the impact of trauma, or can cause more trauma to the child/children it serves.
The greatest gift we can give to a child of neglect and trauma is an understanding that they are not broken and can heal with love and hope. Brain Freeze takes a basic look at the impact of neglect and trauma through the multi-faceted lens of neurobiology and developmental ability, and draws focus to the importance of love and hope. By understanding the impact to the whole of the human that stands before us, we can utilize basic child rearing tools to aid the child to once again trust and grow in life. The avenue to hope comes with the caregiver and the professional understanding the grieving world of the child.
Topics to be discussed include: Broca’s area of the brain, fight or flight syndrome, survival vs. Pleasure, child developmental abilities, steps to elicit memory and heal trauma, techniques to build trust and draw memory, band aids of hurt, trust/rapport, color my world.
Case history examples coupled with multimedia presentation components will provide those that attend a multisensory experience to draw from when engaging these children.
This presentation will be helpful to caseworkers, resource parents, foster care agency workers, students, educators, and other community partners/service providers working with child welfare clients and their families. The goal of the course is to leave the attendees with an open mind, a basic level of understanding and a heart filled with hope.