Creative & Playful Pathways to Treat Acute, Complex & Attachment Trauma: A Certified Child & Adolescent Trauma Professional Training Course

Credits

Speaker

Dana Wyss, PhD, LMFT, ATR-BC Related seminars and products

Star View Adolescent Center

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Dana Wyss, PhD, LMFT, ATR-BC, is a board-certified art therapist, marriage and family therapist, holds a doctorate in expressive therapies, and is the coauthor of The Invisible String Workbook. Her doctorate in expressive therapies has led her to create programs integrating art, music, poetry, dance, and animal assisted therapy in the healing process for clients and the self-care of staff. For the last 25 years, Dr. Wyss has worked in psychiatric hospitals, group homes, and nonpublic school settings to manage crisis, conduct training, coach staff, and support children and families. Dr. Wyss is a corporate clinical training specialist and clinical/art therapy supervisor at Stars Behavioral Health Group, a company specializing in the treatment of complex developmental trauma. She also owns a small private practice where she specializes in the use of art and play for all ages. Dr. Wyss is a national trainer and consultant with the Center for Trauma Training and national trainer to raise awareness of commercial sexual exploitation of children. She uses her creativity for her own healing as well as to support others.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dana Wyss has employment relationships with Stars Behavioral Health Group, Center for Trauma Training, and Loyola Marymount University. She receives royalties as a published author. She is an exam writer at ATCB and reviewer for both ATCB and Accreditation Council for Art Therapy Education and Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs. Dana Wyss receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dana Wyss is a member of American Art Therapy Association and Association for Play Therapy.

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Objectives

1. Create a plan to center yourself before, during, and after trauma related sessions 100% of the time.  
2. Identify 3 creative ways to assess treatment needs and offer psychoeducation to your clients, parents, and colleagues.  
3. Understand the 4 attachment styles and name at least 4 ways they are impacted by trauma experiences in childhood and adolescents.  
4. Identify one way to support safe caregiving systems for trauma-impacted youth. 
5. Identify at least 2 activities that can be used to support regulation. 
6. Define acute, chronic, complex, and vicarious trauma and identify at least 3 consequences of early complex trauma exposure. 
7. Complete a safe space activity and identify 3 ways you could modify it to use with your clients.  
8. Use trauma informed problem solving to create a gains and loss list to problem solve at least one evidence based/informed practice is right for your practice.  
9. Utilize bibliotherapy and expressive arts to teach children, adolescents, and families the concepts of attunement, healthy connection, and regulation.  
10. Chose at least 3 ways to integrate art and games into individual and family therapy to increase the strength of attachment and healthy regulation in children, adolescents, and families. 
11. Learn how to navigate the dance of building resources, putting on the brakes, and doing deeper trauma work.  
12. Describe at least one way to support a youth in moving from surviving to thriving and integrating their trauma experience into their sense of self.

Outline

Prepare for Trauma Work – Foundational Considerations

• The importance of engagement for self and clients
  • What you do before, during, and after
• Psychoeducation-creative ways to educate youth and families
• Collaborative assessment of client’s needs

Attachment Considerations (Theory)

• Timeline progression – From Bowlby to today
• Attachment styles
• Trauma’s impact on attachment and ability to heal

Regulation and Co-Regulation - Modeling/Teaching/Experiencing

• Power differential – being in the space together
• Window of tolerance
• Arrow of comfort
• Stations of modulation- Creating a modulation tool kit

History of Trauma Timeline

• Evolution of the language and understanding (of trauma)

Interactive Teach Back

• Current definitions of trauma
• Traumatic events

Symptoms & Outcomes

• Physiological
• Relational
• Spiritual
• Emotional

Best Practices for Assessment – Consideration for Referral and Diagnosis

• Evidenced-based assessment tools - can or cannot use
• Intake considerations – ask right questions
• ACE and developmental trauma
• Diagnosing with DSM™

Creating and Assessing Safety – Interactive with Scope of Practice

• What is safety
• Create your own safe space activity
• Building routines in session - families, school, and milieu systems
• Identify safe people and relationships

Comparing Evidence-Based/ Informed Treatments for High Level Trauma

• EMDR
• Neurosequential
• Brainspotting
• DBT
• ARC
• TF-CBT
• Expressive Arts Therapy
• Somatic therapy
• Play therapy

Expressive Arts and Treatment (Need for non-verbal components within scope of practice)

• Relaxation
• Writing and journaling
• Poetry
• Visual art
• Rhythmic movement
• Use of metaphor

Moving from Surviving to Thriving

• Activity
• Case conceptualization - integration of trauma narrative – story, timeline, poem
• Closure group activity

Sources

• Sample questionnaires
• Activities

Risks and Limitations

Target Audience

• Counselors
• Social Workers
• Psychotherapists
• Marriage and Family Therapists
• Psychologists
• Psychiatrists
• Addiction Counselors
• Occupational Therapists
• Other Mental Health Professionals