This self-paced course will require about 3 hours per week. You can log on any time during the week, but we encourage you to finish the week’s assignment within that week. You will be in a section with up to 12 other participants with an instructor guiding the course. All materials are provided electronically. Upon successful completion, you will receive 13 NBCC-approved CE hours.
Online Course Outline
The purpose of this course is to provide an overview of the foundations and treatment of childhood traumatic stress.
Module 1 What is Trauma and how is it Experienced by Children?
- Types of stress: positive stress, tolerable stress, and toxic stress
- Types of trauma: Type I, Type II, Type III, Indirect exposure contributing to professional burnout, vicarious trauma, and secondary trauma
- Child maltreatment: society’s view of children, child protection mandates, and prevalence of child maltreatment
Module 2 Child Development
- Normal child development: physical, cognitive, self and others, behavioral, and he effects of trauma on child development
- Brain development: normal development and how it affected by acute trauma and complex trauma
- Trauma Memory: implicit and explicit
Module 3 Effects of Psychological Trauma Experienced by Children
- Central nervous system, peripheral nervous system, sensory-somatic nervous system, and autonomic nervous system
- Parts of the brain: brain stem, limbic system, and cerebral cortex
- Trauma impact on child development: cognitive, affective, behavioral, and somatic-physiological
Module 4 Children’s Reaction to Traumatic Stress
- Coping strategies: adaptive and maladaptive
- Counterfactual thinking: cognitive restructuring
- Self-blame
- Meaning-making
- Posttraumatic growth
Module 5 Assessment, Diagnosis, and Treatment
- Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM): history, changes in DSM-5
- Comorbidity
- Evidence-based assessment instruments: administering, interpreting, and use in treatment planning
- History of trauma treatment with children: TF-CBT, family therapy, play therapy, and expressive arts therapy
Module 6 Other Treatment Considerations
- Role of the non-offending caregiver: effects of trauma, family dysfunction, and attachment
- Engaging children and caregivers: the first session, duration of treatment, and treatment planning
- Additional considerations: ethical issues
Learning Objectives
By the end of training participants will be able to:
- Compare and contrast types of stress: positive stress, tolerable stress, and toxic stress
- Compare and contrast categories of trauma: acute trauma, complex trauma, and chronic trauma
- Gain an understanding of how indirect exposure to traumatic experiences contributes to professional burnout, vicarious trauma, and secondary trauma
- Appreciate major research and important historical literature on the prevalence of child maltreatment, society’s view of children, and child protection mandates
- Compare and contrast normal child development (physical, cognitive, self and others, and behavioral) and the impact trauma can have on child development
- Compare and contrast normal brain development and how it is affected by acute and complex trauma
- Conceptualize the roles implicit and explicit memory play in the encoding process of traumatic experiences
- Demonstrate a working knowledge of the roles the central nervous system, the peripheral nervous system, the sensory-somatic nervous system, and the autonomic nervous system play in the symptoms of traumatic stress and their management
- Identify how the brain stem, limbic system, and cerebral cortex can impact brain development of traumatized children and adolescents
- Gain an understanding of adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies adopted by traumatized children and adolescents
- Demonstrate a working knowledge of administering, scoring, and interpreting evidence-based clinical assessment instruments and their application in the treatment planning of traumatized children and adolescents
- Appreciate major research and important historical literature through the evolution of treatment protocols to utilize with traumatized children and adolescents
- Understand the role of non-offending caregivers in the therapeutic process
- Articulate ways of engaging children and adolescents and maintaining their participation in the therapeutic process
- Recognize the unique ethical issues associated with the treatment of minors
- Compare and contrast evidence-based interventions, common factors, and emerging trends for effective treatment of traumatized children and adolescents
- Demonstrate a working knowledge of DSM-V diagnostic criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder
- Identify the elements of various interview protocols (e.g., semi-structured interview and mental status exam) as they apply to the treatment of traumatized children and adolescents
- Demonstrate a working knowledge of the importance of incorporating play activities and expressive art materials in the assessment and treatment of very young children
- Articulate specific principles and practices for treating traumatized children/adolescents, comparing and contrasting these with those for adults
- Demonstrate procedural understanding of protocols and methods to establish stabilization and the processing of traumatic memories with children, adolescents and their families