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The impact trauma upon neurosequential development throughout childhood and influence of unresolved trauma upon adult functioning and mental health

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Please describe a relationship, service intervention, program implementation, policy, or other that you initiated or know about that would be considered trauma-informed:

I have devised, developed and implemented the TIER Care System for residential children’s homes. TIER stands for Trauma Informed Emotional Regulation.

I have developed close professional relationships with the ChildTrauma Academy and I am a member of two European Study groups, led by the CTA which focus upon the impact of trauma upon the neurosequential development of the brain and nervous system.

I attended the International Symposium on Child Trauma in Banff, Canada in July 2018.

I run a psychotherapy practice based upon the ethos and shared professional belief that unresolved trauma is the platform for depression, anxiety, personality disorder and other mental  health disorders.

 

What was the outcome?  

The combined use of trauma informed practices such as EMDR, TF CBT and DBT with longer term programmes of Schema Therapy, Play Therapy and Cognitive Analytic Therapy are demonstrating that clients respond well to the reprocessing of unresolved trauma in order to move on to further therapy such as CBT, Schema or CAT.

 

What supported the positive outcome? (systemic supports? Organizational supports? Interpersonal supports?):

My practice is completely focused upon the identification of trauma in the history of the client in order to provide a therapeutic formulation and treatment experience. We have hundreds of examples of positive outcomes for children and adult clients as well as systemic family clients.

We are supported by the Childtrauma Academy and Dr Bruce Perry, the BABCP and BACP in providing trauma informed, evidence based psychotherapy practices.

 

In what way has your example changed you, your practice or your goals:

Our practice goals are supported by trauma informed interventions.

 

Tell us more about what motivated you to bring this example to discuss:

I am passionate about the trauma informed narrative, which until recent times, has not been acknowledge in the UK.  It is very exciting to know that the trauma informed narrative is beginning to have a platform here when we are so far behind the USA and European practitioners.

In my view it is absolutely essential that we (as a country) recognise the importance of international research and the efficacy of EMDR and TF CBT as economical methods of treatment that actually provide clients/patients with the opportunity to be free of unresolved trauma and to have access to more efficient and EFFECTIVE psychotherapeutic treatments.

 

Whose needs are met in the example that you outline:

The use of trauma informed, evidence based psychotherapy meets the needs of the whole life span from conception to end of life psychotherapy.  The treatment lends itself to filial therapy, attachment and relational health, impaired neurosequential development through to cortical modulation and beyond throughout adulthood.

Post Traumatic Stress and chronic stress resulting from childhood trauma, from adult trauma (chronic or single event) must be recognised as the platform to most of the diagnosable mental health problems in society. To ignore access to time efficient and effective trauma informed treatments such as EMDR and TF CBT is to leave the client/patients in a ‘revolving door’ situation of chronic mental health problems which the NHS is currently unable to treat or manage.

 

Was there any one person or factor that was central to the success of your example and why:

The most influential professionals, shaping our trauma informed practice and provision at JSA and Life Change Care Ltd are Dr Bruce Perry and the ChildTrauma Academy, Francine Shapiro – EMDR and Dr Michael Patterson of EMDR UK and Ireland.

 

What can you or others do to spread this good practice to colleagues and services:

Everyone involved in the provision of Psychotherapy for children and adults should be aware of the impact of trauma upon neurosequential development, cortical modulation and adult mental health.

The UK needs to take notice of international research and start to catch up with the rest of the western world in terms of implementation of modern research and practices. 

Tags: healing interventions

Published: 2021-07-27