TRAUMA AND LOSS IN CHILDREN

COLLABORATION WITH TRAUMA AND LOSS IN CHILDREN

The American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress isnow collaborating with the Starr Commonwealth's National Institute for Trauma and Loss in Children (TLC) in providing online courses and training workshops. The online courses and training can be viewed below by clicking and the course title. These courses can be used in meeting the training and educational criteria for the Certification Programs in Traumatic Stress and Crisis Management and the Diplomate credential.

TLC's mission is to bring out the best in every traumatized child by training professionals to create environments where children can flourish.

TLC has trained thousands of professionals to help children overcome the trauma in their lives, and are working to share its knowledge with teachers, social workers and more throughout the world.

‍ADHD and Trauma
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Designed to help clinicians in determining whether or not a child is experiencing symptoms and reactions related to a traumatic experience or ADHD, this course explores the many obstacles such as the overlapping symptoms and common etiology of the two disorders. The course begins with overviews of typical PTSD and ADHD diagnoses, discussing the etiology of both ADHD and PTSD in children. In addition, the course will present extensive research that has been conducted on the relationship between maltreatment and ADHD. Lastly, specific assessment recommendations and a case example support the importance of being trauma informed and providing comprehensive assessments to all children.

Breathe! Rock! Draw! Self-Regulation Strategies

This course promotes calm conversations by structuring activities in three areas (breathing exercises, rhythm routines, and drawing/writing) and offering opportunities for children to socially engage through these structured activities in a small group format. The activities can be presented to a child/teen individually, in small group, or in a classroom context. Using brain science, and focusing on both the inner (sensations, images, feelings) and outer worlds (location, safety of that environment), strategies are thoughtfully introduced to promote self-regulation, positive connection and ultimately academic and social readiness to succeed.

Courageous Classrooms
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Designed for educators working with students who exhibit problematic behavior, this course builds upon The Circle of Courage® philosophy; providing a framework for implementing its principles in a school setting.  

Courageous Connections

This online course consists of video segments of a live training. Designed for direct care staff, youth specialists, para-educators, counselors, social workers, therapists, administrators, and any other caregivers, professionals, or crisis responders who work with individuals who exhibit problematic behavior, this course builds upon The Circle of Courage philosophy; providing a set of skills/tools to be used when intervening with individuals in crisis.

Expressive Art Therapy
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This course will take you on an online journey into the experiential world and work of expressive arts. It will provide a foundation in expressive arts therapy from which to build from. You will explore some of the main models of expressive therapies, identify the primary principles and premises that build a theory of expressive arts, and learn how to invite your clients to an expressive experience with the arts. This course is a combination of both reading and experiential activities. You will be invited to move your body, paint, write, draw, and use music to explore and express with the hopes of learning, in a sensory way, about the power of the arts for healing and transformation.

Group Strategies and Interventions
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This online course will focus on the benefit, strategies, interventions, and considerations important to facilitating group work with traumatized children and adolescents. Course content will introduce participants to themes, sensory based activities, therapeutic books, games, and creative interventions to implement in the group setting with traumatized youth. With this course you will learn practical tools and important themes for working with traumatized youth, be introduced to group interventions and resources that incorporate sensory-based intervention, therapeutic books, and art expression and more.
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Healing the Experience of Trauma
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The course consists of video segments of a live presentation and test. This online course will present, "Healing the Experience of Trauma: A Program for Youth," which was developed for practitioners to use with children who are living in a constant state of toxic stress. Instead of asking a child what happened, it focuses on their lives now. Learn the process of moving traumatized youth between themes of trauma and feelings of connection, resilience and strength. Structured sessions integrate mind-body skills and expressive art activities that provide the child with a platform to be an active participant in their healing. The course consists of video segments of a live presentation by Dr. Caelan Soma and a test.

LGBT Youth: From Trauma to Belonging
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LGBT Youth: From Trauma to Belonging was designed for professionals working in schools and organizations that serve children and adolescents identifying with the LGBT+ community. This course provides information related to working with LGBT+ young people.  Topics include rejection experienced by LGBT+ youth, the "crisis of belonging" experienced by LGBT+ youth, the trauma of rejection and its effects, using "The Five Shifts" to connect with and understand fellow members of the human family, The Oneness of Humankind and various other skills, tools and tips for being an ally to LGBT+ young people. You will leave this course armed with the knowledge and tools you will need.  The course consists of video segments of a live presentation by Derek Allen and a test.

Mind Body Skills for Emotional Regulation
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This online course takes a deep dive into the psychophysiology of trauma. Experiential activities are practiced to help participants understand how mind body skills become a language for self-awareness, centering, expression and great insight into helping traumatized youth see themselves as survivors. Participants learn how to rate symptoms and reactions while teaching grounding skills. Mind-body skills highlighted in this training include: breath work, focused awareness, guided imagery and expressive arts. The course consists of video segments of a live presentation, reading and test. A downloadable pdf of the 125 page TLC Mind-Body Skills Guidebook is included as well as CEs.

Non-Suicidal Self-Injury
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Self-injury is an expression of acute psychological distress. It is an act done to oneself, by oneself, with the intention of helping oneself rather than killing oneself. In this online course learn how to distinguish between non-suicidal self-injury and suicidal ideation, coping techniques for someone who is self-injurious, ways in which media contributes to the normalizing of self-injurious behaviors, misconceptions associated with self-injurious behaviors and individuals and risk factors for youth who self-injure.

Psychophysiology of Trauma
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This course focuses on understanding the physiology of trauma by understanding the normal life-preserving survival responses of "flight/fight/freeze" in an individual. Investigating the disturbance of these responses forms the essential foundation for understanding symptoms that results in Post-Traumatic Stress and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. This course reviews research findings associated with the psychophysiology of trauma, which support practical applications when intervening with traumatized individuals. This is considered a beginning course in the psychophysiology, neurology of trauma as research related to trauma and the brain continues to emerge.

Putting It All Together
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This online course consists of video segments from a live TLC training. It takes you on an experiential journey from assessment to closure that is intended to support your clinical implementation of the TLC trauma intervention programs.

Safety Planning and Suicidal Ideation with At-Risk Clients
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This online course will guide clinicians through the development of a safety plan when working with suicidal clients. Course consists of reading, assignments and test. CEs included.

Secret World of Substance Abuse
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What do items such as aerosol cans, tootsie-rolls, candy necklaces, plastic bags and cotton balls have in common? What does the salvia in our front yard have to do with substance abuse? What does 4:20 signify to most parents, educators, and the community? How would you respond to the following from a youth, "Have you ever used drugs?" or "Wow, that was a great party! Everyone was so wasted." By the end of this course you will be more familiar with current trends, the drug culture, youth's perspective on drugs and helping them find a new normal. You will also learn how to respond to certain statements and questions without self-disclosing or shutting down the lines of communication.
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Sexual Abuse
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Sexual abuse is extremely compacted with many layers. Victims of sexual abuse can be any age or gender. Perpetrators can be family, friends or strangers. Court systems can be more traumatizing, police frightening and evidence may be hard to find. All of these things contribute to the challenges that exist for survivors of sexual abuse and assault. All of the different ways that sexual abuse and assault can occur cause it to be multi-layered and case sensitive. Every sexual assault or abuse case you encounter will have to be treated differently as each case and set of clients that comes with it will be made up of different circumstances, beliefs, strengths and challenges.

Social Media and Trauma
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Social media is a reality of society today. Whether it is Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or texting, children as young as 3 years old are using technology. We are no longer a society that is subject to "hearsay" because what is said and done can and is filmed or recorded in real time; this even applies to crisis.This course  is directed toward school policies and school staff. It discusses the basics of trauma, the significance of social media, and the intersection of both. Participants will leave with better understanding on how to navigate through and utilize social media in response to a crisis.

‍Structured Sensory Interventions
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Pre-requisite: Children of Trauma
This video presentation with Dr. Caelan Soma (formerly Kuban) will help you experience the evidence-based, structured sensory interventions that are presented in our foundation course, Children of Trauma. Hands-on activities will provide participants with practice using TLC "Structured Sensory Interventions for Traumatized Children, Adolescents and Parents" (SITCAP®). Case studies will be shared to teach you how to apply mind body skills while focusing on the primary themes of trauma including safety, worry, hurt, fear, anger, revenge and moving from victim to survivor thinking. Includes a Structured Sensory Interventions resource packet.

Suicide Interventions
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This course includes interventions and treatment information that is directly applicable to a broad array of helping professionals and target populations (children to seniors), and includes interventions for specialized fields (schools, hospitals, community agencies) focusing on prevention, intervention, and treatment. Therapeutic activities and resources are provided and treatment is explored from an individual, organizational, and societal level. Develop specific intervention skills with survivors of suicide including organized responses necessary in school settings and the ways grief following suicide differs from grief following non-suicidal losses.  Includes a PDF of the TLC book, "Handbook of Interventions Following Suicide or Trauma in Schools" by William Steele.

‍Trauma-Informed Schools
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This online course will engage participants and motivate them to take action on behalf of children. The documentary Paper Tigers depicts the dramatic transformation in troubled teens when the staff at their school incorporates findings from the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study into their education and support services. A portion of the training day will include presentation of the documentary integrated with a guided discussion. The focus will be on the school as the change agent, an interconnected team, including mental health and child care practitioners, that supports healthy development of children, ultimately creating a thriving school. Participants will also learn how to find ACE-related programming in their communities and integrate it into practice while learning and practicing strategies and activities that support nurturing, positive relationships and appropriate learning experiences in a trauma-informed school setting.

‍Understanding and Combatting Child Sex Trafficking

‍The purpose of this online course is to equip clinicians with the knowledge, power, and skills to combat the hidden, pervasive, and underground world of the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) and domestic minor sexual trafficking (DMST).

Zero to Three: Trauma Interventions
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This course will provide you with the background and tools needed to work with infants and toddlers and their caregivers after they have experienced a traumatic situation. You will learn how to educate parents, facilitate secure attachments and reduce arousal reactions so that healing can occur. A PDF of the TLC book, "Handbook of Trauma Interventions: Zero to Three," is included and can be downloaded from the course.
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