Trauma Specialist Program

Following acceptance of a referral, we offer an initial clinical trauma assessment with the Connected Self℠ Lead to the referred client or family. Following assessment, we may make an offer of direct therapy to the individual or family (with their agreement) and/ or offer specialist consultation to our professional system.

A traumatic event occurs when an individual experiences actual or perceived threat to their life, body (such as physical injury, spousal violence, sexual harm, medical procedures ) or a break in their personal integrity.

These events can overwhelm our capacity to cope and also affect our daily routines or relationships.

Family members may also be affected when they witness or learn that their loved ones others, have become victims of traumatic events.

When a child experiences a traumatic event the overstimulation of their autonomic nervous system can trigger permanent changes in the development of their neural pathways and cause chronic dysregulation of their endocrine systems. This alters the epigenetic profile of their DNA. The experience of trauma also impacts brain development.

Following a traumatic event, children not only develop negative associations for things they experience at the time of the trauma, but their bodies also portray "snapshots" of their unsuccessful attempt to defend their sense of self and integrity.

The "past" becomes the "present" and the "future" is frozen in time. The traumatic piece cannot be integrated and exists as an isolated piece of the past that is being relieved again and again. There is no “future". The traumatic experience becomes highly activated and an incomplete biological response frozen in time.

Experts have used the term “wired for danger” to describe the brains of individuals who have experienced trauma. Allowing children to experience traumatic stress and not providing intervention, perpetuates this cycle of abuse twofold, since it becomes ingrained in their epigenetics. This will be passed down through generations in their DNA and in the way they parent their future children (Kiyimba, 2016).

Children may experience strong feelings such as fear, sadness, anger, grief and guilt. They may also experience other distress reactions, including difficulties in sleeping and/or concentrating, hypervigilance and bodily symptoms like muscle aches or headaches.

Although grief and loss are a universal experience, ‘traumatic grief’ usually occurs in response to the types of losses defined above and is a way of describing thoughts, feelings and reactions which are more traumatic (trauma symptoms) than the universal experience of mourning following a death.

It is important to acknowledge that these reactions are all typical responses to an abnormal situation and the intensity of such reactions would subside after about 3-4 weeks.

If your child/you continue to experience significant distress reactions four weeks after the event, it is recommended to speak to a healthcare professional regarding these concerns.

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are potentially traumatic events experienced in the first 18 years of life.

ACEs are categorized into three groups: abuse, neglect, and household challenges. Each category is further divided into multiple subcategories.

Abuse

• Emotional abuse: A parent, stepparent, or adult living in your home swore at you, insulted you, put you down, or acted in a way that made you afraid that you might be physically hurt.
• Physical abuse: A parent, stepparent, or adult living in your home pushed, grabbed, slapped, threw something at you, or hit you so hard that you had marks or were injured.
• Sexual abuse: An adult, relative, family friend, or stranger who was at least 5 years older than you ever touched or fondled your body in a sexual way, made you touch his/her body in a sexual way, attempted to have any type of sexual intercourse with you.

Household Challenges

• Mother treated violently: Your mother or stepmother was pushed, grabbed, slapped, had something thrown at her, kicked, bitten, hit with a fist, hit with something hard, repeatedly hit for over at least a few minutes, or ever threatened or hurt by a knife or gun by your father (or stepfather) or mother’s boyfriend.
• Substance abuse in the household: A household member was a problem drinker or alcoholic or a household member used street drugs.
• Mental illness in the household: A household member was depressed or mentally ill or a household member attempted suicide.
• Parental separation or divorce: Your parents were ever separated or divorced.
• Incarcerated household member: A household member went to prison.

Neglect

• Emotional neglect: Someone in your family never or rarely helped you feel important or special, you never or rarely felt loved, people in your family never or rarely looked out for each other and felt close to each other, or your family was never or rarely a source of strength and support.
• Physical neglect: There was never or rarely someone to take care of you, protect you, or take you to the doctor if you needed it2, you didn’t have enough to eat, your parents were too drunk or too high to take care of you, or you had to wear dirty clothes.

Along with familial violence, abuse or neglect, and parental separation or death, any event that undermines a child’s sense of bonding, safety, and security is defined as an ACE.

Experiencing ACEs during childhood can disrupt a child’s development and impact their social, emotional, and cognitive well-being well into adulthood.

ACEs are linked to:

• risk taking behaviors
• substance use problems
• chronic health issues
• mental illness
• early death

Researchers found that the more ACEs adults reported from their childhoods, the worse their physical and mental health outcomes (e.g., heart disease, substance misuse, depression). The term ACEs has been adopted to describe varying lists of adversities.

Trauma is one possible outcome of exposure to adversity. Trauma occurs when a person perceives an event or set of circumstances as extremely frightening, harmful, or threatening—either emotionally, physically, or both. With trauma, a child’s experience of strong negative emotions (e.g., terror or helplessness) and physiological symptoms (e.g., rapid heartbeat, bedwetting, stomach aches) may develop soon afterward and continue well beyond their initial exposure. Certain types of childhood adversity are especially likely to cause trauma reactions in children, such as the sudden loss of a family member, a natural disaster, a serious car accident, or school violence. Other childhood adversities (e.g., parental separation or divorce) tend to be associated with more variability in children’s reactions and may or may not be experienced by a child as trauma.

Toxic stress can occur when a child experiences adversity that is extreme, long-lasting, and severe (e.g., chronic neglect, domestic violence, severe economic hardship) without adequate support from a caregiving adult. Specifically, childhood adversities, including ACEs, can over-activate the child’s stress response system, wearing down the body and brain over time. This overactivation is referred to as toxic stress and is the primary way in which adversity damages a child’s development and well-being. The extent to which a child’s stress response to adversity becomes toxic and leads to serious health and mental health problems in adulthood also depends on the child’s biological makeup (e.g., genetic vulnerabilities, prior experiences that have damaged the stress response system or limited healthy gene expression) and the characteristics of the adverse events or conditions (e.g., intensity, duration, whether a caregiver caused the child harm).

A traumatic bereavement is one normally associated with sudden, unexpected or traumatic death. An individual or family could be considered to have experienced a traumatic bereavement if they have experienced: loss through suicide or other traumatic /violent event; if they have been involved in the care of a severely ill close family member who passed away from their illness

In addition, the process of grieving can become more complicated – or traumatic – if there were existing difficulties in attachment or when presented with clinical history of trauma .

Although grief and loss are a universal experience, ‘traumatic grief’ usually occurs in response to the types of losses defined above and is a way of describing thoughts, feelings and reactions which are more traumatic (trauma symptoms) than the universal experience of mourning following a death.

The increased understanding that childhood adversity, including ACEs, can cause trauma and toxic stress—and, in turn, have a lasting impact on children’s physical and mental health—presents an important opportunity to turn this awareness into action. For example, caregivers and other practitioners can learn about and implement trauma-informed care in child and family service systems.

By being part of a trauma informed process or intervention, it also helps the child to process and integrate the traumatic event and emotions associated with the event. It provides the child a safe space to learn self-regulation skills, provides a sense of connectedness, allows the child to find new found meaning and purpose in life.