Child Therapeutic Approach: A Case Study

In the case study by Ghosh-Ippen, Lieberman, and NCTSN Core Curriculum on Childhood Trauma Task Force (2012), Amarika is an 18-month-old girl who witnessed the shooting of her mother Makisha at a neighborhood park. Her mother survived the shooting, but was in the hospital for some time after to recover. Her grandmother, Marlene Lawrence, cared for Amarika. Mrs. Lawrence reported that Amarika was refusing to eat and having difficulty sleeping. This is when the social worker, Carla, was contacted to provide trauma intervention for Amarika.

It is an important part of a practitioner’s job to observe and assess children in order to establish where a child is at with regards to their development, health and well being and if they require extra support. The factors that need to be taken into account when assessing development are:

Teachers need to be aware of every child’s progress within their setting. Evidence gathering and developing a full picture of each child is important, in order to understand their individual needs and supply accurate feedback to other teachers, support staff,

James is a thirteen-year old Caucasian child who is being physically and verbally abused in his home by his two parents. James suffers from multiple disorders that have not been diagnosed by a doctor. He has been removed from his home that he shares with his two younger sisters. James presently is in his Uncle Patrick’s kinship foster care where he is living. James’s case seems that he is suffering from three of the 12 core concepts. Working with children who suffer with more stress related trauma is a more challenging case for the social workers. Sometimes these cases affect the social worker, and they experience vicarious trauma. A social worker works closely with their patients and form a significant relationship

This research is to distinguish whether the children, who are exposed to violence or abuse, if left unaddressed or ignored, are at an increased risk for emotional and behavioral problems in the future. Children who are abused may not be able to express their feelings safely and as a result, may develop difficulties regulating their emotions. As adults, they may continue to struggle with their feelings, which can

Children that were recruited to participate were assigned to either a treatment or non-treatment group based on parental consent, and willingness to be involved in therapeutic interventions. Those who were interested in receiving both therapy and being involved in the study were assigned to a treatment group, and those interested only in being part of the study were assigned to the non-treatment group. Due to the nature of this study, an option of random assignment was not feasible, and instead children were each assigned to their group. Screening interviews and pretreatment assessment occurred one month before treatment began. The participants then began receiving intervention or no intervention and immediately after treatment were given a post treatment assessment. In addition to the assessment at the conclusion of treatment, two more assessments were given at a one-year, and 10-year follow up.

As a crisis responder to a domestic violence situation, the therapist would assess the immediate danger of the children and mother. The assumption would be made that Department of Social Services would have been called as well to assess the situation because the children were present during the situation. Katz, Hessler, & Annest, (2007) begin off with addressing the emotional impact domestic violence has on child. Since the case study stated that their 13 year old son had an incident at school that resulted in physical violence it would be appropriate to access if he has witnessed additional incidents between his parents. Children can develop depression, anxiety and behavioral outbursts as a result of domestic violence (Katz, Hessler,

“Children Institute Inc” is another organization that supports children who are abused, neglected or faced with violence, or daily poverty basis. This organization uses primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention by offering different levels of treatments and services based on the children’s mental and physical responses. And the way they provide the prevention is by seeking “evidence-based clinical services to address trauma; youth development programs to enable children and youth to develop skills and self-esteem; early childhood programs which provide critical early intervention; and family support services to build on family strengths and promote stability”. The main function of this organization is to change the children and adult’s lives

Alternative response (AR) (also called an assessment response or family assessment response) in this publication, the terms alternative response (or pathway) and assessment response (or pathway) are used interchangeably. These responses—usually applied in low- and moderate-risk cases—typically do not require a formal determination or substantiation of child abuse or neglect, and names are not entered into a central registry. Both pathways for the most part envelop evaluations of child wellbeing and/or hazard. An exhaustive family evaluation concentrated on family 's qualities and necessities is integral to AR and might likewise be incorporated with IR. Both pathways offer numerous basic standards and objectives, including an emphasis on child security, permanency, and prosperity. ((n.d.). Retrieved December 20, 2015, from https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/differential_response.pdf)

Alternative response (AR) (also called an assessment response or family assessment response) in this publication, the terms alternative response (or pathway) and assessment response (or pathway) are used interchangeably. These responses—usually applied in low- and moderate-risk cases—typically do not require a formal determination or substantiation of child abuse or neglect, and names are not entered into a central registry. Both pathways for the most part envelop evaluations of child wellbeing and/or hazard. An exhaustive family evaluation concentrated on family 's qualities and necessities is integral to AR and might likewise be incorporated with IR. Both pathways offer numerous basic standards and objectives, including an emphasis on child security, permanency, and prosperity. ((n.d.). Retrieved December 20, 2015, from https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/differential_response.pdf)

There are different types of trauma child welfare programs focus on. They typically focus on behavioral and emotional problems and ways to correct the child (Greeson et al. 94). However, it is not as simple as the welfare programs want it to be. One first must look at the trauma history of the child, or the “Trauma History Profile”, also known as THP (Greeson et al. 97). The THP addresses “lifetime exposure to trauma and contains a

Childhood trauma is one of the most heartbreaking situations to ever fathom happening. Childhood trauma includes neglect, maltreatment, physical and emotional abuse, and many other forms of mistreatment amongst children. Childhood trauma occurs between the ages of 0 and 6 years of age. When referencing to childhood trauma, one must take thought into who commits the abuse, who is affected by the abuse, and what long term effects can the abuse have on the victims. One must also take into consideration the sex differences when referring to childhood trauma. Numerous of studies have been conducted and many findings have been made. Prior to conducting this research paper, I only considered childhood trauma to be what it was and never considered the long term effects. Because of my assumption, I never even considered the other categories of the trauma.

Child therapy differs greatly from adult therapy in a way where in adult therapy, a person is expected to talk about their feelings while the therapist sits there to listen and take notes. With child therapy, there is no way to do that without the child getting bored about sitting still and talking about their feelings. According to child therapist Douglas Green, child therapy should be done in the language of play. Children are more expressive about their feelings and they grow a lot more when they are playing games, with toys, engaging in activities, through drawing, and some other forms of art (Green, 2012). In other words, the child will recover and grow more from the divorce of their parents or the death of their dog or family issues in general if they link up with a therapist and be able to express themselves by engaging in any type of play, than talking about their feelings. By doing this, a therapist will get more feedback from the child instead of forcing them to just sit still and ask them questions. Play therapy, along with other methods specifically designed for child therapy, focuses on the child’s emotional well-being, it serves as a healthy way to express their concerns and feelings, and it helps improve their relationship with those around them especially their families.

“American Psychiatric Association defines trauma as an event that represents a threat to life or personal integrity. Trauma can also be experienced when children are faced with a caregiver who acts erratically, emotional and /or physical neglect, and exploitation” (Maltby, L., & Hall, T. 2012. p. 304). Trauma comes in many different forms including: war, rape, kidnapping, abuse, sudden injury, and

Initial resuscitation and fluid correction by normal saline is mandatory. Sodium correction to be done gradually.