Organization--How do I navigate the site?
Throughout the years of working with parents and professionals, most people struggle in where to start when learning and using information on early trauma.
Your need for information will be unique, whether it’s for treatment purposes or parenting and at what level of understanding they already have. Our information is geared to a variety of populations.
Use these groupings (tags) to help you find relevant content:
Trauma Lens Paradigm Shift: No one will be successful without adapting how you perceive the child, the behaviors, the motivations, and beliefs. Changing our paradigm requires information, examples, and research. Without it, our view of the child and behaviors will be based on our interpretations, beliefs, and emotions.
Trauma Disrupted Competences: Because of our experiences, we were driven to understand where the behaviors were coming from. Often, the behaviors did not make sense. Why would a ____year old child, do____? Shouldn’t he have learned by now? Through years of experiences and research, we identified six categories of where behaviors originated. Alphabetically, they are Developmental Delays, Emotional Responses, Negative Internal Working Model, Object Relations, Self-regulation, and Sensory Processing.
Elements: From training in different treatment modalities, we extracted four interventions to use when interacting with our children. We begin 1. all of us have many parts, 2. under anger is fear, 3. narration gives our children another view of the world, and 4. matching affect allows us to co-regulate with our child.
Principles: While working in our in-home treatment programs, Jeff noted that each family shared similarities. We identified seven principles evident in each family and use these principles to help “right” the course for families. 1. Brains prioritize fear 2. Limbic brains harmonize 3. Parents must emotionally self-regulate 4. Parents must project the positive 5. Parents define 6. Children learn what works 7. Children must be enjoyed.
Team Work: Parenting traumatized children is difficult. Parenting without a support system is even harder. This section guides parents in establishing a team and how to participate in meetings. Uneducated (in early trauma) team member can be the downfall to success. Equip your team members with information.
Parenting: Foster and adoptive parents face unusual struggles. They may be parenting more than one traumatized child, they may be fostering children who will eventually leave the home, they may be struggling with agency issues. We address these issues.
Environment: Before a paradigm shift, parents may establish an environment they perceive the child needs. Later, that environment becomes a detriment to healing. Learn how to adapt your home to meet the needs of the entire family.
Additional stressors: Vacations, summertime, holidays, etc increase stress in a healthy family. Add a traumatized child to the mix and the stress may seem unmanageable. Before these occur, learn new ways to prepare for the events.