Trauma
Children from hard places
I thought this week I would write a short summary about the contributions of Karyn Purvis to the field of children’s therapy. She died in 2016 but her teaching and contributions live on. She taught at Texas Christian University and was an internationally-renowned child development expert, popular speaker, author and passionate advocate for vulnerable children.…
Read MoreDeveloping Brain
A Number of Things to Remember about Child Development I just finished reading an article from Harvard’s Center on the Developing Child and wanted to summarize the things they want us to remember about how children develop. “Development is a highly interactive process, and life outcomes are not determined solely by genes.” – The environment…
Read MoreToxic Stress
I just listened to an Innovation Hub interview with Dr. Jack Shonkoff director of Harvard’s Center on the Developing Child (you can listen to this interview by clicking on the link). The core of this interview discusses the long term effects of toxic stress. Dr. Shonkoff suggests that everyone knows how it feels to be…
Read MoreWhat is Trauma
For so long many people have associated post traumatic stress disorder (complex trauma) with only MAJOR events, and while this seems true, it’s not true for every case. As a psychologist (a professional influence of mine) has put it, “trauma is any stress that can disrupt and affect physiology”. In other words anything that occurs…
Read MoreRegulation – Dissociation Part 2
While some kids live hyper-aroused and are incorrectly diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder other children respond to early trauma by dissociating. This is particularly true if they experienced trauma as infants or toddlers. The three choices any human has to stress is flight, fight or freeze. Infants are incapable of running or fighting so…
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