In mid-2011, a group of professionals began meeting to discuss the issue of trauma care in Tarrant County. The work of this group built on efforts by the Mental Health Connection Trauma Implementation Team,which had brought Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to the community. The new group began looking at other issues surrounding trauma, including research showing that many behaviors attributed to mental illnesses may result from traumatic experiences.

The Committee has created a vision for its work in trauma, as well as a definition of trauma:

Vision: A community that understands and acts quickly with sensitivity to the needs of those who have experienced any form of trauma.

Definition: Trauma is defined as the experience of an event by a person that is emotionally painful or distressful which can result in lasting mental and physical effects. Trauma is defined by the experience of the survivor. What is traumatic to one person may or may not be traumatic to another. Trauma can affect anyone.

In its work, the Trauma Committee found stunning information showing that people who have experienced trauma are:

• 15 times more likely to attempt suicide
• 4 times more likely to become an alcoholic
• 4 times more likely to develop an STD
• 4 times more likely to inject drugs
• 3 times more likely to use antidepressant medication
• 3 times more likely to be absent from work
• 3 times more likely to experience depression
• 3 times more likely to have serious job problems
• 2.5 times more likely to smoke
• 2 times more likely to develop chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
• 2 times more likely to have a serious financial problem

Committee Selected to Receive Technical Assistance Expertise

The Complex Trauma Treatment Network (CTTN) has selected Mental Health Connection's Trauma-Informed Committee as a learning community that will receive technical assistance and other support. The goal of the CTTN is to work with professional learning communities interested in adopting or expanding the use of trauma-informed care in their services. CTTN is funded by the US Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and is a participating program of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. Brad is part of a team of national experts that provides technical and training supports to local teams on a regular basis over the course of a given project year; less intensive supports may be available in subsequent years based on continued funding of the initiative.

Join the Committee

The Trauma Committee is looking at ways to transform the system throughout the community so victims of trauma will receive sensitive treatment that will not re-traumatize them. As a part of this process, the Committee hopes representatives from a number of organizations will join the group's adaptive change efforts.

Next Meeting

The Trauma Committee's next meeting will be on Wedesday, February 22, 2012, at ACH Child and Family Services, 1424 Summit, Fort Worth, 76102, from 2:30-4:30 p.m. If you are interested in changing the way our community views and reacts to trauma, please join us. Click below to view the minutes of previous meetings.

Trauma Committee Meeting Minutes

 

Background and Research

In its efforts to learn more about trauma and trauma-informed communities, the Trauma Committee has found a number of articles and research papers. Click on the links below to see the full copy of any that interest you.

PowerPoint: Understanding Trauma and Trauma-Informed Systems by Brad Stolbach (presented to Mental Health Connection on 2/1/2012)

Pathways to Partnerships with Youth and Families

Proposal to Include a Developmental Trauma Disorder Diagnosis for Children and Adolescents in DSM-V

Relationship of Childhood Abuse and Household Dysfunction to Many of the Leading Causes of Death in Adults

Secondary Traumatic Stress: A Fact Sheet for Child-Serving Professionals (National Child Traumatic Stress Network)

The National Council Magazine - Focus on Trauma Issue

Recovery: Changing the Conversation - a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration PowerPoint

Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Implementation Manual (National Child Traumatic Stress Network)

Trauma Resources for School Personnel (National Child Traumatic Stress Network)

A Developmental Approach to Complex PTSD: Childhood and Adult Cumulative Trauma as Predictors of Symptom Complexity (Marylene Cloitre, Bradley C. Stolbach, Judith L. Herman, Bessel van der Kolk, Robert Pynoos, Jing Wang, Eva Petkova; Journal of Traumatic Stress, Vol. 22, No. 5, October 2009, pp. 399-408, Copyright 2009, International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Treatment of Complex PTSD: Results of the ISTSS Expert Clinician Survey on Best Practices (Marylene Cloitre, Christine A. Courtois, Anthony Charuvastra, Richard Carapezza, Bradley C. Stolbach, Bonnie L. Green; Journal of Traumatic Stress, Vol. 24, No. 6, December 2011, pp. 615–627, Copyright 2011, International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Developmental Trauma Disorder: A New Diagnosis for Children Affected by Complex Trauma (Bradley C. Stolbach, International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation News, Vol. 25, No. 6, December 2007, pp. 4-6)

 

Information for the Public

"Children See. Children Do." Australian public service announcement

 

Training Opportunities

Seven-session Webcast