Literature Review On Seeking Safety

I attended a seminar entitled Trauma Informed care which was presented by Center for Urban Community Services the Institute for Training & Consulting. The facilitator opened the training by defining Trauma informed care which is an engagement technique that recognizes the presence of trauma history and acknowledges the role of trauma in the lives of survivors’. The training provided an overview of the new diagnostic criteria from DSM-5 of Post Traumatic Disorder and other trauma related disorders (generalized anxiety, panic disorder, dissociative disorder) as well as other symptoms and behaviors that can result from trauma. The trainer also discussed vicarious trauma and its impact on staff supporting clients with trauma history.

While there is agreement that trauma informed care generally refers to a philosophical stance integrating awareness and understanding of trauma and its ongoing impact on patients’ health and lives, there is not yet consensus on a definition or clarity on how the model can be applied in a variety of settings. The philosophical underpinnings of trauma informed care trace to the feminist movements of the 1970s (Burgess & Holstrom, 1974), and the emergence of child-advocacy centers and awareness and response to child abuse in the 1980s. In combination with the growth of research in combat-related posttraumatic stress after the Vietnam War, the focus then expanded to mental health practice, especially in the context of traumatic events. By the late 1990s and early 2000s, social work and mental health professionals began to articulate organizational frameworks for delivery of trauma informed care, as well as conceptual models based on scientific evidence about how traumatic stress impacts brains and behavior (Bloom, 1997; Harris & Fallot, 2001; Covington, 2002; Rivard, Bloom, & Abramovitz, 2003; Ko, Ford, Kassam-Adams, et al. 2008; Bloom, 2010). In 1998, SAMHSA launched the Women, Co-Occurring Disorders and Violence study, a seminal study in 27 sites over five years that examined trauma-integrated services counseling. Following that, the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) began identification and distribution of empirically supported trauma-specific mental health

Family Therapy can be implemented in a different ways in a program that provides a facet of services, but it’s imperative that the approaches used are appropriate for the individual or families utilizing services. Functional Family Therapy is used to help deal with substance abuse in families but can also be used to assist with behavioral issues in children. A well rounded family service program can not only use this one approach but utilize other approaches to meet the needs of the population being served. And while implementing the service ethics will play a major role in the therapy being providing.

I completed my internship at Saint Agnes Home, Inc (SAH) located in West Hartford Connecticut. I was assigned to single Teenage Mothers. The Saint Agnes is a non-profit program licensed group home run by the State of Connecticut Department of Children and Families for pregnant and/or parenting adolescents and their babies. The mission of the Saint Agnes program is to provide residential care and support services to single pregnant and parenting teen mothers and their babies. The Saint Agnes Home program emphasis values, respects life, and recognizes the unique dignity and optimum potential of each person served. The program is staffed by licensed clinical social workers, registered nurse, and other college prepares professionals.

The first method of treatment is trauma-focused cognitive-behavioural therapy. In this method, a patient is gradually but carefully exposed to feelings, thoughts, and situations that trigger memories of the trauma. By identifying the thoughts that make the patient remember the traumatic event, thoughts that had been irrational or distorted are replaced with a balanced picture. Another productive method is family therapy since the family of the patient is also affected by PTSD. Family therapy is aimed at helping those close to the patient understand what he/she is going through. This understanding will help in the establishment of appropriate communication and ways of curbing problems resulting from the symptoms (Smith & Segal, 2011).

During the Fall 2016 semester I had the opportunity to intern with Centro La Familia Advocacy Services, Inc in Fresno, California. Centro La Familia is one of a few organizations/agencies in Fresno County that not only provides social services, educational programs, but they also have advocacy and intervention services in rural and urban areas in Fresno County. I was allowed to intern within the victim services department of Centro La Familia, which is responsible in assisting victims of all crimes.My primary task as an intern was to learn and to help the victim advocates of Centro La Familia.Over the course of my internship I have participated in community outreach and attended meetings. In addition, I have done numerous filings, copies, translations, interpretations and filling out forms for clients. I worked closely with two very experienced victim advocates that help me transition to working in this environment, but also worked with other victim advocates to gain even more insight about the victim services they provide.

The process of finding an internship was very stressful for me. I honestly had no idea where to start or even what I was interested in. It took me many weeks to do research into different facilities that had internships available. After calling tons of organizations I finally interviewed at one that felt right for me. The interview took place with Laura Crain, who I also interviewed for this essay. The internship is at the McHenry County Substance Abuse Coalition.

Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) is basically a conjoint parent and child psychotherapy approach for kids and teenagers who are undergoing significant behavioral and emotional difficulties pertaining to traumatic life events (Jensen et al., 2014). In essence, it is a components-based treatment model incorporating trauma-sensitive interventions with family, cognitive behavioral, as well as humanistic techniques and principles. Parents and

As children go through life, they will come upon stressful situations and experiences. Many children will work through the challenges that life brings, build resilience and move forward, however, some children may experience more extreme traumatic events that can result in life difficulties due to serious trauma symptoms that are much harder to manage. Trauma-Focused-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is an evidence based treatment model designed to help youth who have experienced a significantly traumatic life event. TF-CBT uses skills and strength based therapy to address symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and anxiety (Cohen et al, 2006). This research is an examination of trauma focused cognitive behavior therapy as a model of practice including the areas of history and development of the model, its relationship with other models of practice, considerations of appropriate populations, methods and components for treatment, effectiveness of the intervention and relevance for social work practice.

Evidence-based practices have been gaining a lot importance recently and it was so interesting to search the online libraries to actually see how many exist. It was stimulating to go onto the National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices websites and be in awe of abundance of programs. There were programs for almost every type of social work practice. While looking through the different databases in regards to evidence-based practice (EBP), one in particular really caught my attention. The particular EBP that will be discussed is known as Cognitive Processing Therapy for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). I chose this specific one because I have a great interest in therapies with those suffering from PTSD.

For my internship, I served under the Allegheny County Health Department in Pittsburgh, PA. I served as the National Health Corps Member for the Women, Infants, and Children Program as their Care Coordinator for all nine offices. Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is a supplemental nutrition agency that targets pregnant and postpartum women and young children ages 5 and under who are at risk of malnutrition. My supervisor Annie Nagy along with my mentors in the office made sure I was able to receive all of the materials and resources I would need to have a complete and successful internship.

You are completing your graduate work at a local university by participating in an internship at a private mental health clinic. As a part of your internship, you were asked to cofacilitate a group for men and women with relationship difficulties.

Najavits (2002) developed Seeking Safety (SS), a manualized, cognitive-behavioral intervention intended for treating symptoms of PTSD and SUD simultaneously. SS has been shown to be an effective intervention for reducing PTSD and SUD symptoms in multiple populations and across many settings, including men and women in outpatient treatment (Hien et al., 2015; Kaiser et al., 2015; Mcneils-Domingos, 2004; Najavits et al., 1998), men and women in inpatient treatment (Ghee et al., 2009; Searcy & Lipps, 2012; Young et al., 2004), veterans (Cook et al., 2006; Desai et al., 2008; Lapointe, 2010; Najavits, 2007; Najavits et al., 2011; Najavits et al., 2016; Norman et al., 2010; Boden et al., 2012; Weller, 2005), women in prison (Lynch et al., 2012; Zlotnick et al., 2003; Wolff et al., 2012; Zlotnick et al., 2009), men in prison (Barrett et al., 2015), men and women in community treatment (Gatz et al., 2007; Holdcraft & Comtois, 2009), African-American men (Hamilton, 2006), women in a rural setting (Patitz et al., 2015), transgender women living with HIV (Empson et al., 2017), Aboriginal communities (Marsh et al., 2015), adolescent girls in outpatient treatment (Daoust et al., 2014; Najavits et al., 2006), and adolescent boys (Daoust et al., 2014).

Najaviatis, n.a.).” “Seeking Safety has been tested with co-occurring disorders samples of women, men, and adolescent girls, included clients in outpatient and residential settings, low-income urban women, incarcerated women, and veterans both men and women (NREPP SAMSAH'S Ntional Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices , 2015).” The above information came from varies sources and rating them on Macgowan’s hierarchical scale varies for each, original study, and

My placement is at Gateway Youth in Elmont. Gateway is a prevention program specializing in working with youth between the ages of 5-17 who are in conflict with their family, in need of academic or emotional support, or who are involved in the juvenile court system. Services provided include case management, crisis intervention, and advocacy with the schools, court, and community. As a social work intern, I am placed at Gotham Ave Elementary School working with third graders. At this school, Gateway Youth provides an after-school program for students that need supervision with their homework and inclusion in activities before their parents can pick them up.