Outline

• Neuroscience of Childhood Trauma Trauma Theory
  • Fight-or-Flight (parasympathetic/sympathetic nervous system)
  • Attachment Theory
• Assessment
  • Complex Trauma
  • Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
  • Reactive Attachment Disorder
  • Developmental Trauma Disorder
  • A new conceptualization and integrated clinical framework
• Essential Components for Trauma-Informed Treatments
  • Establishing safety and a sense of competence/worth
  • Appropriate attachments & relational engagement
  • Self-regulation (body & emotions)
  • Self-reflection & Introspection
  • Integration of traumatic experiences (acknowledgment & processing of the trauma)
  • Future safety ~ transitioning beyond the Trauma
• Body Based Treatment – Emotional and Behavioral Regulation
  • Verbal vs nonverbal responses – how to recognize trauma without verbal report
  • Bottom-up versus top-down processing – trauma starts in the body
  • Developmental needs of traumatized children
  • Embodied play & sensory integration – emotional and behavioral regulation
• Incorporating Play Therapy into Proven Evidence-based Treatments
  • Components that “fit” the child’s specific needs
  • TF-CBT- Trauma focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
  • EMDR – Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing
  • CPP – Child Parent Psychotherapy
  • ARC – Attachment, Regulation, and Competency
  • TARGET – Trauma Adaptive Recovery Group Education Therapy
• Play Therapy Principles
  • Therapist establishes a friendly relationship
  • Accepts the child as he is
  • Creates a permissive relationship; child has freedom of expression
  • Validates (acknowledge and reflect) child’s feelings
  • Responsibility for decisions and change is left mostly to the child
  • Child directs the therapeutic process; therapist follows
  • Therapeutic interaction is not rushed
  • Limits are set only when necessary for child’s outcomes
• Advancing Trauma Treatment with Play Therapy
  • Non-verbal techniques
  • Sensory-based techniques
  • Culturally and developmentally appropriate techniques
• Play Therapy Strategies and Techniques
  • Integration of traumatic experiences to acknowledge and process the trauma: Sandtrays, drawings, & play
  • Target shame, self-doubt, and selfcompassion: Sandtray Safeplace & All About Me
  • Build an understanding of the brainbody relationship: Flip your lid and Charades
  • Target indiscriminate attachments and interpersonal reactivity: Invisible String & Family Sandtray
  • Improve emotional and bodily regulation: Stressballs, Be Spaghetti, Feelings Map, Trashballs, Yoga, and Weather Massage