Back by popular demand! Those who attended our April 14-15 simulcast said that we need to do it again so that more people can come. We will be re-playing the recording of the two day conference put on by the Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development in Texas on understanding how trauma affects brain development. Trauma can be defined by these 7 main risk factors:
- Stressful pregnancy
- Stressful birth
- Early childhood hospitalization
- Neglect
- Abuse
- General Trauma – death of a loved one, traumatic accident or event, violent/unstable home etc
- System Effects – experiencing foster care or adoption etc.
That means that in any group of children, we will have AT LEAST ONE who has experienced some kind of trauma. This trauma experience impacts our brains and development and shapes our future relationships and how we experience and process the world around us. Children with past trauma may exhibit behaviours or sensory processing problems that make them more difficult to work with. What looks like bad behaviour may be an inability to understand their feelings and how to regulate what they are feeling. As caregivers understand the impacts on trauma on their brains and bodies we can be more effective in helping them to calm and regulate themselves and be able to cope effectively in the world and establish healthy relationships as children and as adults. This conference is highly recommended for any foster or adoptive parents, respite caregivers or others struggling with difficult children who aren’t responding to traditional parenting methods, for teachers, day-care workers, Sunday school workers or anyone else working with children in any capacity.
Recent reports in the media such as this one are now sharing the known connections between unaddressed childhood trauma and an individual’s susceptibility to addiction, incarceration, homelessness and human trafficking. Knowing these connections makes this topic all the more important for all of us to understand if we want to be part of the solution to the challenges facing our communities. Armed with this understanding, we can all be part of the solution for children and the coming generations.
The conference will be held at 505 Eighth St. Nanaimo (Salvation Army Church) from 9am-5pm both days. Tickets are $30/person or $40 at the door. Lunch is not provided. To register, please go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/empowered-to-connect-conference-simulcast-tickets-45324250052
For more information on this event contact Brandalyn at the administration office or via email at brandalyn_musial@nullcan.salvationarmy.org
For more information on the Empowered to Connect conference and course material please visit empoweredtoconnect.org and https://child.tcu.edu/about-us/tbri/#sthash.PwpI6FMl.dpbs or watch the following youtube video: