Interventions - Trauma/PTSD

Does your adopted child suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) caused from early trauma? Trauma that happened before you ever met your child may be adversely affecting your parent-child relationship. Most adoptive families try numerous techniques to help their affected children. Living with a person who suffers from PTSD can be difficult for the entire family making some families feel desperate for help. Parents of children with PTSD tend to get a little excited when we hear about a new treatment. At least those of us with eternal optimism do. The cutting-edge treatment for PTSD sufferers may be virtual reality psychotherapy combined with medication. The study lead author, Barbara O. Rothbaum, a professor of psychiatry, and director of the Trauma and Anxiety Recovery Program at Emory… [more]

Traumatized children can display some challenging behaviors for their adoptive parents and caregivers. These behaviors frequently tend to isolate these adopted children from the rest of the family or group. Giving them time out or sending them to their bedrooms can isolate them even more. Our therapist has been recommending time in for these traumatized adopted children. Time in, can help them connect with the parent or caregiver. Being in close proximity to a significant adult can help a traumatized child regulate his or herself. Instead of sending the child off to a corner or a bedroom, the parent has the child stay very close. If, for example, the parent is working in the kitchen, the child might help or just stand close by and observe. Two… [more]

Monday night I went to a free support group meeting for foster, adoptive, and kinship families. I confess, I haven’t attended one in years, but I have been feeling a little desperate and depressed. The biweekly support group is led by a social worker with at least 30 years of experience in special needs foster care adoption, a MSW, and years of private therapy experience with internationally adopted traumatized children. The topic for the week was lying and stealing. She gave us a challenge and I am sharing it with you. Try Dr. B. Bryan Post, PhD, LCSW techniques for two weeks. He guarantees that if you follow his methods you will reduce your child’s lying by at least 50 percent in two weeks. He has… [more]