Children and Families with Attachment & Trauma Problems: The Latest Developmental and Systems Approaches

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Speaker

Dr. Kathy Seifert, PhD Related seminars and products

ESPS

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Kathryn Seifert, PhD, is a psychologist in Maryland and one of the leading experts in the fields of multi-victim violence, bullying, trauma and mental health related violence in the United States. Dr. Seifert specializes in the assessment and treatment of individuals who are at risk for violence and those who are emotionally disturbed, behaviorally disordered, victimized, delinquent, and/or suffering from attachment disorders.

Dr. Seifert has appeared on CNN, Discover ID, and Fox News and consults with numerous public agencies. She testifies in courts as an expert on the maltreatment of children and has a blog, Stop the Cycle, on Psychologytoday.com with over a half million readers.

Dr. Seifert has written two books, How Children Become Violent (Acanthus, 2006) and Youth Violence: Theory, Prevention, and Intervention (Springer, 2015). In these two books, she wrote about the groundbreaking research such as the ACE’s research out of the CDC, connecting child maltreatment, delays in the development of coping skills, and youthful violent behaviors. Dr. Seifert also developed the CARE-2, Child and Adolescent Risk/Needs Evaluation.
 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Kathryn Seifert is the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Eastern Shore Psychological Services; and CARE-2, LLC. She receives royalties as a published author. Dr. Seifert receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Kathryn Seifert has no relevant non-financial relationships.

Objectives

• Describe three negative effects of trauma on children’s development
• Identify the best method to recognize children with attachment problems
• List three trauma reduction techniques
• Name five risk factors that place children at higher risk for violence
• Describe how to match the needs of the child and the family with the treatment techniques
• Describe how healthy families support healthy development of children

Outline

Overview

• Child Development & Attachment
  1. Core concepts of child development and how they are affected by trauma
  2. Vital functions of secure attachment
  3. Major symptoms of disrupted attachment

Assessment

• Children
  1. 6 symptom categories
  2. Traumatized brain
  3. 3 attachment patterns
  4. Holistic assessment practices
  5. Assessing development
• Parents
  1. Awareness of emotional and environmental triggers
  2. Marital relationships and co-parenting
  3. Parenting attitudes and competencies
  4. Parent mental health and stability
• Family System
  1. Structure—family systems work
  2. Ongoing patterns
  3. Support systems
  4. Stressors and stress management

Treatment

• Focus of Intervention
  1. Child
  2. Family relationships
  3. Community systems
  4. Rules, roles and boundaries
• Integration of Interventions
  1. Family therapy
  2. CBT and skill building involving parents and schools
  3. Longevity and relationships
  4. Story-telling and psycho-drama—healing trauma by changing the end of the story
  5. Movement and rhythm
  6. Building confidence and competence
• Applications
  1. Foster care
  2. Departments of Social Services and Juvenile Services
  3. Acute care and residential treatment programs
  4. Outpatient settings with multiple agency involvement
• Facilitate the Healing Process
  1. The trauma cycle—fight, flight and freeze
  2. Unfreezing
  3. Relaxing and reducing fear and arousal responses
  4. Corrective developmental experience
  5. Creating attachment
  6. Using structure attunement and empathy
• Therapeutic Methods
  1. 4 attachment cycles that can occur in the first year of life
  2. Rapport
  3. Commitment
  4. Building relationship
  5. Inner child metaphor
  6. Family systems therapy
  7. Building reciprocity
  8. Moral development
  9. Multimodal approaches and longevity
• Parenting
  1. 4 aspects of providing a secure base
  2. Reinterpreting child’s behavior
  3. Facilitating 4 competencies—knowledge, skills, judgment and self-control
  4. 3 steps to remaining calm and composed
  5. Creating a sense of belonging
  6. Reducing and managing family conflicts
  7. Creating a healing environment

Target Audience

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