Understanding The Impact Of Trauma
WARSAW — Kosciusko Cares Youth Services partnered with the Indiana Youth Institute to host an event, ‘Trauma Informed Care: Understanding the Impact of Trauma,’ Wednesday, May 23, at the K21 Health Services Pavilion.
Juanita Mejia-Goodwell, Northeast Indiana Outreach Manager for IYI, introduced the event speaker, Darla France, MA, co-executive founder of counseling & training, LifeTouch Ministries and Counseling Center, Winona Lake.
Employees from local organizations and schools such as Head Start, Beaman Home, Warsaw Community Schools and Kosciusko Community Foundation were in attendance. France spoke of the importance of being trauma informed.
“Individual trauma results from an event, a series of events or a set of circumstances. It is experienced by an individual as physically or emotionally harmful or threatening,” said France. “That has lasting adverse effects on the individual’s functioning and their physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing.”
“A lot of people think that because Little Jimmy watches Daddy beat up Mommy that Little Jimmy didn’t experience trauma – they think that only Mommy had trauma. It’s actually Jimmy that had just as much trauma because he was scared to death when Mommy was being hurt and he was also threatened himself,” France explained.
She discussed how certain sights, sounds, smells, tastes or touches can trigger memories of trauma. According to France, a number of children are affected by past or current trauma that dictates their behavior and sometimes leads to mental health diagnosis.
In order to support these children in a meaningful way, those who work with youth need to have an understanding of the impact trauma can have on the children they serve. The presentation offered information related to:
- understanding the definition of trauma and the impact of trauma;
- exploring how traumatic experiences affect our lives and shape who we are;
- understanding behaviors associated with trauma; and
- learning reasonable interventions that can be used to support children and youth.