Children and Adolescents Category

Attachment, Trauma and Dissociation in Children and Adolescents: Pieces of the Complex Trauma Puzzle

3 CE Hours
23 members have taken this course
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About the Course

Complex trauma is… well, complex. Complex trauma is the combined impacts of chronic or multiple traumas and disrupted attachment in early childhood. Often presenting with multiple diagnoses, multiple treatment failures, placement breakdowns, emotional or behavioral dysregulation, and dissociation, these young clients often get lost in the system. Therapists working with this population are struck by how little these children resemble those they were trained to treat. Neither training in childhood trauma nor training in attachment captures the presentations and treatment needs of this group of young people. The triad of trauma, disrupted attachment and dissociation each contributes aspects that can disrupt treatment and undermine supportive relationships if left unaddressed. This webinar explores a treatment approach designed to address all three of these pieces in the complex trauma puzzle.

This course is based on the recorded webinar, Attachment, Trauma and Dissociation in Children and Adolescents: Pieces of the Complex Trauma Puzzle created by Niki Gomez-Perales, M.S.W., R.S.W. in 2019.

Publication Details

Publication Date: April 26th, 2019

Course Material Author

Niki Gomez-Perales, M.S.W., R.S.W.

Niki is a therapist, lecturer and author in children’s mental health, complex trauma, attachment and dissociation. Niki brings 30 years of experience in the field. She has lectured on Complex Trauma and Attachment with the ISST-D, the ESTD, the ISTSS, the ESTSS and ATTACh. She is a guest lecturer for the Universities of Windsor and Guelph and is on staff as an instructor for Safeguards Training for Child and Adult Services. Niki is an active member and Fellow of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation and a winner of the ISST-D 2016 written media award for her book “Attachment-Focused Trauma Treatment for Children and Adolescents: Phase-Oriented Strategies for Addressing Complex Trauma Disorders,” released by Routledge Publishing House, The Taylor and Francis Group, in June of 2015. Niki's second book, “Attachment Focused Toolbox: Phase Oriented Strategies, techniques and tools for Addressing Complex Trauma Disorders in Children and Adolescents” is scheduled for release by Routledge in 2018.

Niki Gomez-Perales, M.S.W., R.S.W. authored the material only, and was not involved in creating this CE course. They are identified here for your own evaluation of the relevancy of the material this course is based on.

Course Creator

ISSTD Staff

These questions were created by staff and volunteers at ISSTD.

Target Audience

This course is recommended for psychologists, counselors, social workers, and other mental health professionals who seek knowledge about complex trauma in adolescents. It is appropriate for an intermediate level of participants’ knowledge.

Learning Objectives

After taking this activity, you should be able to:

  1. 1 Identify and use specific attachment focused techniques to enhance the attachment relationship between the child or adolescent and their attachment figure to support and facilitate further treatment
  2. 2 Identify and use specific techniques to assist the child or adolescent in working within the enhanced attachment relationship to achieve improved integration, coping skills and self-regulation
  3. 3 Identify and use specific integrative techniques with children and adolescents in the exploration of traumatic memory within the support of enhanced attachment relationships
  4. 4 Support children, adolescents, and their caregivers in returning to their developmental trajectory and creating a childhood beyond their complex trauma experiences.

Disclosure to Learners

CE Learning Systems adheres to the ACCME's Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Medical Education. Any individuals in a position to control the content of a CE activity – including faculty, planners, reviewers, or others ― are required to disclose all relevant financial relationships with ineligible entities (formerly known as commercial interests).

The following relevant financial relationships have been disclosed by this activity's planners, faculty, and the reviewer:

Planners and Reviewers

The planners of this activity have reported that they have no relevant financial relationships.

Material Authors

There are no known relevant financial relationships to disclose.

Course Creator

ISSTD Staff – There are no known relevant financial relationships to disclose.

Commercial support

There is no commercial support for this distance-learning course.

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Recorded Webinar

This material is available to purchase for $75.00.

This course material is published by ISSTD. For your convenience, has partnered with ISSTD to make it available for purchase right here.

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