Working with System Involved Youth Separated from Biological Families: The Impact of Traumatic Separation on Attachment

Pamela Parkinson, Ph.D., LCSW

Training Description

Do we realize the attachment trauma that family separation has on our kids of all ages? This includes kids being separated from their families in foster care, juvenile justice, immigrating to the U.S., etc. What does this breaking up of families do to our kids? This training will look at the deep attachment ruptures that are occurring in our system-involved youth and other ruptures that are happening in their lives and which are contributing to the behaviors/symptoms for which they are being referred to us for services. These ruptures are interfering with our kids having positive outcomes from our service delivery!

Learning Objective

• Explore what is meant by the trauma of loss and the attachment ruptures that these traumatic losses create.
• Learn how these original attachment ruptures create trauma in our system-involved youth, how this results in ongoing retraumatization, and ways that we can decrease the pain of these ruptures.
• Identify the benefits of finding safe ways to keep families “intact” and offer services, after they have been separated, that will facilitate possible reunification and more permanent placements.

Agenda 

10:00 AM – 10:10 AM Sign In

10:10 AM – 11:30 AM Discussion of what we mean by the trauma of loss through family separation and what is meant by attachment rupture?

11:30 AM – 11:45 AM BREAK (CEUs will not be issued for this time)

11:45 AM – 1:00 PM Review and describe why the healing of these family relationships are important whether the kids live with their families or not.

1:00 PM – 1:30 PM LUNCH (CEUs will not be issued for this time)

1:30 PM – 3:00 PM Explore Pain in the Heart Theory (PITH) in relation to helping youth recover from the trauma of family separation.

3:00 PM – 3:15 PM BREAK (CEUs will not be issued for this time)

3:15 PM – 4:15 PM Small Group work to explore strategies for healing the attachment ruptures that our youth experience during and after family separation! Ways we can advocate on behalf of this healing and how important it is to be addressed!

4:15 PM – 4:30 PM ADJOURNMENT

Meet Our Trainer

Pamela Parkinson, PhD, LCSW, is a clinical psychologist and clinical social worker, whose specialty area is working with youth and their families. Dr. Parkinson has spent most of her career working with system involved youth in our Continuum of Care (foster care, juvenile justice, mental health and the kids struggling in our school systems). She is a certified PCOMS evidence-based practice trainer. Pamela currently works as a child/family consultant to CBO’s in the Bay Area and has worked in level 14 residential, NPS, hospitals, and a variety of community-based settings including outpatient clinics, schools, diversion, kinship, etc.

This course meets the qualifications for (5.5) BBS CEUs 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.