Supporting More than Just System Involved Youth: The Need to Address Generational Trauma

 Nicole Kelly & Nancy Acosta

Training Description

Working with system-involved youth can be challenging given the generational patterns observed in families. These can include trauma, poverty, incarceration, teen pregnancy, etc. The better we understand the youth’s trauma and adversity in light of what has happened to the generations who came before them, the better we can support the youth. Without this perspective, we can have unrealistic expectations for youth and their families and encounter barriers to engagement. This training will provide an overview of generational trauma, examples of generational trauma, impacts of generational trauma and strategies to support youth and families.

Learning Objectives

· Participants will be able to identify one example of generational trauma

· Participants will be able to conceptualize foster youth on their caseload through a generational trauma lens

· Participants will be able to identify at least one generational trauma impact on health.

Agenda

10:00-10:15am Welcome and Introductions

10:15-11:30am  Defining generational trauma

· Generational patters observed with system involved youth and families

· Defining generational trauma

· Self-reflection activity

· Barriers to a generational perspective

· Parents responses to youths’ trauma

· Trauma and attachment

11:30-11:45am  Break (CE hours will not be offered for this time)

11:45am-1:00pm  The impact of generational trauma

· Parenting patterns across generations

· Consequences of investing in only the youth

· The impact of unresolved trauma on a parent’s ability to parent

· Impact of unresolved trauma on mother’s attachment with infant

· Trauma following individual across their lifespan

· Epigenetics

1:00-2:00pm  Lunch break (CE hours will not be offered for this time)

2:00-3:30pm  Examples

· Native Americans

· African Americans

· Holocaust survivors

· Latinos

· Cultural perspective of trauma

· Health disparities

3:30-3:45pm  Break (CE hours will not be offered for this time)

3:45-4:45pm  Examples, resilience and supporting youth

· Intergenerational poverty

· Intergenerational incarceration

· Intergenerational resilience

· Supporting system involved youth and families

4:45-5:00pm  Questions & Answers, closing

Meet Our Trainer

Nicole Kelly is a clinical psychologist who has worked with trauma survivors for 14 years. She currently consults with agencies on trauma-informed care, programming for commercially sexually exploited youth, vicarious trauma, and leadership development. Nicole has been training multidisciplinary audiences on trauma-related topics since 2015 and provides guest lectures at local universities on human trafficking.

Nancy Acosta is a bilingual therapist who has 7 years of experience working with trauma at a sexual assault center. She has provided services to children and adults in various settings including outpatient community mental health centers, college counseling centers, crisis centers, and in an integrated behavioral health setting. She has completed training in Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing Therapy as well as Cognitive Processing Therapy. She has experience providing training and supervision to doctoral level graduate students in trauma related topics including crisis intervention, vicarious trauma, and grounding techniques. In addition to developing a training manual for a student training program at a rape and crisis center, she also has experience supervising practicum students and providing support to staff and advocates. Nancy has experience working as a behavioral health consultant with multidisciplinary staff to improve recognition, treatment and management of behavioral problems and conditions.

This course meets the qualifications for (5.75) BBS CE hours for LCSWs, LMFTs, LPCCs, and LEPs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences & is provided by Fred Finch Youth Center, CAMFT Provider #045295.