Core Concepts of Child and Adolescent Trauma.

Catalog description

Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Enrollment is restricted to students pursuing a graduate degree in social work or the child welfare certificate or by permission of the program director. This course will introduce students to the core concepts (explanatory theory and foundational knowledge) that inform evidence-based assessment and intervention with traumatized children and adolescents. Strength-based practice will be highlighted along with a focus on the identification of protective and promotive factors that foster resiliency and post-traumatic growth. Trauma is broadly defined, and subjects include children and adolescents exposed to traumatic events including, but not limited to natural disasters, war, abuse and neglect, medical trauma, and witnessing interpersonal crime (e.g. domestic violence) and other traumatic events. The course will highlight the role of development, culture and empirical evidence in trauma-specific interventions with children, adolescents and their families. It will address the level of functioning of primary caregiving environments and assess the capacity of the community to facilitate restorative processes.