Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Treatment

A., Mannarino, A. P., Kliethermes, M., & Murray, L. A. (2012). Trauma-focused CBT for youth with complex trauma. Child abuse & neglect, 36(6), 528-541.

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

The counselor selected a diagnosis based on the use of the Child assessment form and the Behavioral checklist and the reports on his case notes and present a diagnosis of 301.81 (F43.10) Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) American Psychiatric Association, Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 5th ed,( 2013). This diagnosis was established because the client does show symptoms of distress in his interactions at home. Children who are exposed to intense fear and anxiety, after experiencing traumatic or life-threatening event and may feel fearful and anxious as well as ‘emotionally numb, do become angry withdrawn and irritable. Catani and Sossalla, (2015) noted that children who undergo abuse in a traumatic way will have PTSD. They also sometimes avoid people, places that remind them of the

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

The effects of maltreatment in children can last through adolescence and on through adulthood for many. Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) is a very popular type of therapy that join the caregiver and the child’s sessions. The basic process of this therapy is educate and improve parenting skills, teach relaxation techniques and skills, introduce cognitive coping skills, allow the child to talk about the narrative and make the child feel comfortable about talking about the trauma and allow the child cognitively process the traumatic events, ensure that the child feels safe. Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT). For children who suffer post-traumatic stress syndrome, this treatment can require maintenance for up to 2 years after the child has completed treatment (Deblinger, Steer, & Lippmann,

TF-CBT was originally developed in 1997 and was eventually published in book form in 2006, by Judith Cohen, Anthony Mannarino, and Esther Deblinger, a team of professionals studying interventions for child sexual abuse survivors. TF-CBT is a merger of earlier trauma-focused approaches that were originally directed toward treatment for child sexual abuse survivors (Cohen et

Childhood and adolescence is a crucial time for humans- a time full of physical, emotional, and cognitive development. Upon observing the significant impact that trauma induced stress can have on adults following time in combat or an injury, when adults have fully matured in all areas, it raises the question of what influence post-traumatic stressors can have on development in children. This issue was so significant that in the DSM-5, the psychologists introduced a new, and separate, section of criteria for PTSD that specifically relates to the preschool subtype, or those individuals six years and younger. The first age specific sub-type for this disorder is important due to the rising number of studies and cases of PTSD in children.

Trauma is perceived as a physical or psychological threat or assault to a person’s physical integrity, sense of self, safety and/or survival or to the physical safety of a significant other; family member, friend, partner. (Kilpatrick, Saunders, and Smith, 2003). An adolescent may experience trauma from a variety of experiences, including but not limited to: abuse (sexual, physical, and/or emotional); neglect; abandonment; bullying; exposure to domestic violence and/ or community violence; natural disasters; medical procedures; loss/grief due to a death of a family member(s); surgery; accidents or serious illness; and war (Kilpatrick, Saunders, and Smith, 2003).

Once my client is stabilized from the initial concerns of severe depression and suicide attempts, TF-CBT could be introduced. Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Children Affected by Sexual Abuse or Trauma. (2012) suggests that the following areas be covered psychoeducation and parenting skills, relaxation techniques, affective expressions and regulation, cognitive coping and processing, trauma narrative and processing, in vivo exposure, conjoint parent/child sessions and enhancing personal safety and future

“American Psychiatric Association defines trauma as an event that represents a threat to life or personal integrity. Trauma can also be experienced when children are faced with a caregiver who acts erratically, emotional and /or physical neglect, and exploitation” (Maltby, L., & Hall, T. 2012. p. 304). Trauma comes in many different forms including: war, rape, kidnapping, abuse, sudden injury, and

Trauma occurs when a child has experienced an event that threatens or causes harm to her emotional and physical well-being. Events can include war, terrorism, natural disasters, but the most common and harmful to a child’s psychosocial well-being are those such as domestic violence, neglect, physical and sexual abuse, maltreatment, and witnessing a traumatic event. While some children may experience a traumatic event and go on to develop normally, many children have long lasting implications into adulthood.

Taking the TF-CBT training gave me a understanding of how to manage and provide services to children and families who experience traumatic events in their life. The training which consisted of different modules of techiniques to help identify and teach (to list a few) breathing techniques, stress management, and cognitive processing skills for children and parents, help parents optimize their childrens emotions and behavioral adjustment, and encourage children to share the traumatic experience ethier verbally or in the form of writing. Mastering these techniques will help me to improve quality care of traumtized children and families, reduce the impact of traumatic events, help children and families with coping skills and teach body/ awareness in sex education in case of physical and or sexual maltreatment.

There are many types of trauma that can effect an adolescent and without the proper treatment of the traumatic event the adolescent can have difficulty adapting and developing into adulthood. Kathleen J. Moroz, of the Vermont Agency of Human Services, defines trauma as a physical or psychological threat or assault to a child’s physical integrity, sense of self, safety of survival or to the physical safety of another person significant to the child. She goes on to list the types of trauma a child may be exposed to. Abuse of every kind, domestic violence, natural disasters, abandonment, serious illness or an accident are just a few traumatic events that can effect the development of a child. (2) When these events occur as an acute event

SCID data is expected to indicate 86.7% of the childhood abused group to meet the full DSM IV criteria for childhood abuse related PTSD at the time of the study, whereas 19.4% of the non-abused group is expected to meet PTSD criteria for other type of trauma related. A chi square analysis will be used to find the difference of current PTSD levels, it is expected to find a significant difference within the first year of being exposed to the present study, X2 (1,n=150)=34.43 p< .005. The SCID as well is expected to indicate a mean of 12.0 in the childhood abused group regarding to the levels of PTSD symptoms and a mean of 4.6 in the comparison group. A t-test design will be utilized to find the difference between the groups, which is expected to reveal a significantly difference t (300)= 9.21, p<.001. Shown in table two are the expected means of PTSD levels within the four years sequential study. 83% of the childhood abused group is expected to have higher PTSD levels than the nonabused group with 22.6%, which indicates that throughout the years, the childhood abused group will continue to show higher levels of PTSD, than the nonabused