Traumatized children and adolescents will be the focus of a daylong conference at Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus aimed at helping mental health professionals.
“Treating Trauma in Children and Adolescents” is being co-sponsored by Fordham’s Graduate School of Education (GSE) and the Archdiocese of New York’s Drug Abuse Prevention Program.
Friday, March 20
9 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
E. Gerald Corrigan Conference Center, 12th Floor
Lowenstein Center, Lincoln Center Campus
Amelio D’Onofrio, PhD, clinical professor and founding director of the Psychological
Services Institute at Fordham at GSE, said the conference will present research and strategies for mental health professionals who work with children and adolescents who have experienced a wide array of traumas.
Some are one-time events such a car accident or rape, while others fall under the term “complex trauma,” such as growing up in a household where there’s mental illness, substance abuse, or emotional neglect.
Children in urban settings, such as those D’Onofrio works with as part of a grant project with the Department of Health and Human Services, also face challenges from gang violence and racism.
“We want to educate health professionals on how trauma is manifested,” he said. “Sometimes we look at acting-out behaviors in children when they misbehave. Those kinds of behaviors can actually be responses to their traumatizing environments. Even difficulties such as hyperactivity can be a developmental response to having been exposed chronically to traumatizing environments.”
Topics being presented include “Treating Traumatic Stress Across the Service System,” “Treating Adolescent Attachment Trauma,” Trauma and Resilience: A Parents Perspective,” and “Trauma Treatment in Schools.”
For more information, visit the GSE webpage
