Taking Care of Ourselves: ATFT Module 10
Presented by
Deborah D. Gray, LICSWFamilies tend to get exhausted when parenting children who have trauma and loss issues. This module will go over some of the strategies that help families to stay balanced and to thrive.
Overview
ATFT Module #10 1 CE
These workshops were recorded as part of the ATFT Certificate program, but therapists will find them very useful as stand alone learning sessions.
Parents, children, teens, and professionals all face issues of ambiguous loss in our specialty area, as mentioned earlier by Kristin and Mike Berry. We need to make meaning and find support for our clients and ourselves.
Prevention of burn out or compassion fatigue is an essential, ethical task for every clinician. The session will discuss supports for people who choose this specialty practice. We will give strategies for times that are particularly taxing. When needs of clients are so great, it is tempting to give away margin. This module gives guidance so that people are able to enjoy their lives and their practices.
Families tend to get exhausted when parenting children who have trauma and loss issues. This module will go over some of the strategies that help families to stay balanced and to thrive.
Reflection Questions:
As you went through the modules, what areas were most interesting to you? Which types of cases might you find to be “too much?” Please take the PROQOL (Professional Quality of Life) assessment now to measure your well-being. (This scale and scoring can be found on-line under a search for PROQOL.)
Write down your plan to keep yourself in good mental, spiritual, and physical health as you practice in this area. Now write your plan for when you are not doing well. Taking the PROQOL yearly, or after unusually stressful personal events, is a good practice. Would it help to identify someone to whom you could be accountable?
About the Presenter
Deborah D. Gray, LICSW has the honor of helping families to develop close, satisfying relationships after children’s earlier losses, traumas, and/or prenatal exposure to drugs and alcohol. In addition to her therapy practice, Deborah is an author and trainer. She developed and taught the post-graduate certificate program, Attachment/Trauma Focused Therapy (ATFT), which is now available remotely and in modules through Cascadia Training. Deborah has been awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from ATTACh (International Association for Training on Attachment and Trauma in Children). She was a Henry Meier Practitioner in Residence at the U of WA School of Social Work. She was core faculty for the Adoption and Foster Care Therapy Post-Graduate Certificate Program at Portland State University for 19 years, teaching on the topics of trauma, grief, attachment, and child welfare. Deborah served as the attachment consultant for the 5-year Quality Improvement Project for Children’s Administration. She has keynoted numerous State and Non-profit child welfare conference addresses, including the Joint Council of International Children’s Service Conference in Washington DC. She received her MSW from Syracuse University and MPA in Public Administration (Health Care) from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University. Deborah is the author of: *Promoting Healthy Attachments; Attaching through Love, Hugs, and Play; Nurturing Adoptions: Creating Resilience after Neglect and Trauma; and Attaching in Adoption. She co-authored Games and Activities for Attaching with Your Child.