A Team Approach to Develop
Resilience in Traumatized
Children and Youth
Expert Conference - The Therapeutic Communities. Ebenfurth, Austria
September 18, 2009
Abstract:

Resilience is the capacity to recover in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or other significant sources of stress. The study of resiliency has emerged out of research in at-risk youth. Initially, research could not explain why some children faced with barriers such as poverty, abuse, neglect or violence would show positive development in life (for example, in relationships and employment). It was found that one of the key protective factors that make the difference is the development of resilience, which helps to reduce the negative impact of traumatic events in these children’s lives. The research identified that the critical condition for developing resilience is the presence of stable and strong relationships with competent and caring adults in their lives.

This workshop will explore treatment strategies that can help children and youth with traumatized experiences to develop resilience. The workshop presenter will share her experience with programs in the United States that focus on helping at risk children and youth to develop resilience. These programs have shown positive treatment outcomes in helping children and youth to adjust well in different aspects of their lives. Many of them have grown up to become fully integrated in their communities and therefore reduce the need for adult institutionalization. Emphasis is also put on the need to foster resilience within the treatment team to prevent caregiver burnout so that treatment efforts can be sustained.
Links:

The Therapeutic Communities: Association for the Advancement of Children and Youths
Ebenfurth, Austria/EU
http://www.therapeutische-gemeinschaften.at/

California Mental Health Services Act Progress June 2009
http://www.dmh.ca.gov/Prop_63/MHSA/Publications/default.asp

International Resilience Project (Bernard Van Leer Foundation)
http://resilnet.uiuc.edu/library/grotb97a.html

“The Road to Resilience” by American Psychological Association
http://www.apahelpcenter.org/featuredtopics/feature.php?id=6


References:

Bertolino, B., & Thompson, K. (1999). The Residential Youth Care Worker in Action. NY: Haworth Mental Health Press.

Beverely, J. (1989). Treating Traumatized Children: New Insights and Creative Interventions. NY: Free Press.

Bowlby, J. (1944). Forty-four Juvenile Thieves: Their Character and Home Lives. In International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 25, 19-52

Bowlby, J. (1988). A Secure Base: Parent-child Attachment and Healthy Human Development. NY: Basic Books.

Brohl, K. (2007). Working with Traumatized Children: A Handbook for Healing. VA: Child Welfare League of America, Inc.

Brom, D., Pat-Horenczyk, R., & Ford, J. (Eds.). (2009). Treating Traumatized Children: Risk, Resilience and Recovery. East Sussex: Routledge
Finkelhor, D. Ormrod, R., Turner, H., & Hamby, S.L. (2005). The Victimization of Children and Youth: A Comprehensive National Survey. In Child Maltreatment, 10(1), 5-25.

Garbarino, J., Dubrow, N., Kostelny, K., & Pardo C. (1992). Children in Danger: Coping with the Consequences of Community Violence. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Kagan, R. (2009). Transforming Troubled Children into Tomorrow’s Heroes. In D. Brom, R. Pat-Horenczyk, & J. Ford (Eds.). (2009), Treating Traumatized Children: Risk, Resilience and Recovery. East Sussex: Routledge

Liebenberg, L., & Ungar, M. (Eds). (2008). Resilience in Action. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Malchiodi, C. (Ed.). (2008). Creative Interventions with Traumatized Children. NY: Guilford.

Masten, A.S., & Reed, M.G. (2002). Resilience in Development. In S.R. Snyder, & S.J. Lopez (Eds.), The Handbook of Positive Psychology, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Perry, B. (2008). Forward. In C. Malchiodi (Ed.), Creative Interventions with Traumatized Children. NY: Guilford.

Sroufe, L.A. (1979). The Coherence of Individual Development: Early Care, Attachment, and Subsequent Development Issues. In American Psychologist, 34(10), 834-841.

Sroufe, L.A., Egeland, B, & Calso, E.A. (1999). One Social World: The Integrated Development of Parent-Child and Peer Relationships. In W.A. Collins, & B. Laursen (Eds.), Relationships and Developmental Contexts (pp.241-261). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum

Ziegler, D. (2002). Traumatic Experience and the Brain: A Handbook for Understanding and Treating Those Traumatized as Children. AZ: Acacia Publishing.

blocks_image
Presentation by Sharon Law
Marriage and Family Therapist (Los Angeles, USA)