Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and Trauma

This half-day session will cover:

Basic human needs:

• what ‘good enough’ parenting/development/childhood looks like;
• the impact of ACEs on the concept of ‘good enough’;
• the, often, profound consequences when ACEs are multiple and/or repeated.

The neurobiology of threat:

• the developing brain;
• the specific vulnerabilities of children and teenagers to psychological trauma forming and ‘deforming’ their developing brain and ‘self’;
• why people do not usually react in ‘logical’ or ‘active’ ways when faced with intimate interpersonal threat;
• the impact of the lack of understanding of why the person did not behave ‘logically and actively’, on the individual him or herself (resulting in guilt, shame and feelings of responsibility and, ultimately, potentially lack of – or inaccurate/incomplete – disclosure), and, potentially, on their interactions with those around them;
• how, and why, people become vulnerable to repeated victimisation;
• how, and why, victims’ can become ensnared with an abuser (perhaps not recognising themselves to be victims); and/or appear to repeat patterns of abuse in multiple relationships (basic attachment, and object relations, theory will be used to explain this).

Unmet needs remain ‘needs’:

• when ACEs are not recognised and addressed, in a timely manner, the traumatic legacy can be significant and impact every area of an individuals’ life for decades. Without intervention broken things often become more so with “time”: not less;
• recognising that significant vulnerability to repeated exploitation, abuse and harm, is an almost inevitable consequence of repeated, unaddressed, ACEs;
• understanding that what is often perceived to be the ‘problem’ may, infact, be a symptom of, or indeed the ‘answer’ the person has found to, the actual problem (which is almost assuredly the persons’ experience of ACEs).
• understanding what is required from the professional to better support people.

The importance of looking after ourselves, and our colleagues, in doing this work:

• the potential impact of working with, and hearing about, traumas;
• what we can do to better support ourselves to stay ‘healthy’.

For more information or to book a place click on the link below:

Course: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and Trauma- Zoe Lodrick

If you do not have access to iLearn then please complete booking form (download here) and return to wfdadmin@newcastle.gov.uk