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One final topic from the Seeds of Hope: Promising Interventions for At-Risk Children presentation... more

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Ok, to recap, Drs. Purvis & Cross operate a camp for post-institutionalized traumatized children called “The Hope Connection” as part of their research for the Institute for Child Development at Texas Christian University.... more

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The unique twist to the work that Dr. Purvis and Dr. Cross do at the is that they test neurotransmitter levels of all the Camp Hope campers (and their parents) before, during and after the day camp. To day, Dr. Purvis reports she has reviewed over 900 neurotransmitter tests on traumatized children. She has seen some pretty definite... more

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I promised you some of the “meat” I learned from the Seeds of Hope: Promising Interventions for At-Risk Children presentation that Dr. Karyn Purvis and Dr. David Cross made at last fall’s ATTACh conference.

Well the first thing I found truly impressive was Dr. Purvis’ in-depth description and understanding of how neglect, maltreatment, lack of nutrition and lack of stimulation can impact sensory functions. Yes, I’ve heard... more

I have just finished listing to a CD set of recordings from last year’s ATTACh conference; a day-long workshop entitled: Seeds of Hope: Promising Interventions for At-Risk Children. The CD order form is here.

The speakers, Dr. Karyn Purvis and Dr. David Cross are the developers of the Institute of Child Development at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. Their research training and service are focused on special needs children who... more

Don’t you hate it when middle-aged moms try to sound cool? I know my teenaged daughter does. I was going to write "Homeys", but was informed Peeps was more “in”…being slang for People.

Friday night Super Dad and I joined several other parents at a dinner one of the awesome moms of challenging kids organizes for us each month. This group is comprised of adoptive/foster parents of traumatized children. The alphabet soup of diagnoses apply. And even though each and every child is completely different, unique and challenging in his/her behaviors and... more

Call it DTD (Developmental Trauma Disorder) or call it C-PTSD (Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), but just call it something! And call it something quick!

A few weeks ago I reported that the National Child Traumatic Stress Network had formed a committee that was proposing a new diagnosis of Complex PTSD be included in the new Diagnostic and Statistic Manual (DSM). Today I came across an article about the... more

I got this FABULOUS bumper sticker from a dear friend a couple weeks ago. It made me laugh outloud, because she does know us well. On the first day it wasn’t raining, I plopped it on the back of my car. It so describes our life…we’re STUCK! (And I don’t even have one of those vacation t-shirts with the catchy phrases to show for all my labors).

There are two things of basic “stuckness” around our ranch:

1. Trauma. LuLu, through the advent of puberty, has made it abundantly clear that she’s still stuck in a certain... more

The Healing Resources website’s free video on Trauma, Brain and Relationship: Helping Children Heal has a section where Dr. Daniel Seigel uses a dog bite analogy. Dr. Seigel is a psychiatrist and professor at UCLA. His area of expertise is trauma and relationships.

He describes trauma like a dog bite. When a dog bites you, the natural response is to yank your hand away. But, because of the way the dog’s jaw locks his teeth together, pulling away only rips your flesh deeper, creating a bigger wound.... more

The Healing Resources website has a fascinating free video that you can view online entitled Trauma, Brain and Relationships, Helping Children Heal. It is a compilation of interview conducted with some of the country’s authorities on children and trauma.

There were many sections I found fascinating – here’s some things I learned.

Cortisol. I have had a basic understanding that cortisol washes over the brain of a person in distress, enabling the brain to produce adrenaline... more