Adverse Childhood Experiences

FULL PROGRAM

Dr Felicity de Zulueta
Adverse Childhood Experiences and the Importance of Building up Resilience Through Attuned Interactions
We are born to attune and empathise with one another so as to be cooperative, but we live in a culture that promotes individualism and competition, the result of which we see in the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study. This study shows how toxic stress in the early life of infants and children leads to changes in their body, mind, and behaviour. Felicity will describe these changes in detail, and thereby introduce you to the importance of providing a more attuned and loving environment for our children. This approach also provides a healing resilience-building experience for adults through Trauma Informed Care as will be illustrated throughout the rest of this event.

Judith Rees and Amanda McIntyre
Trauma Informed Care for Expectant Parents
What are the hallmarks of trauma-informed care and why is it transformational? This session shares the learnings from For Baby’s Sake: an innovative, whole-family programme, starting in pregnancy and working with both parents to break the cycle of domestic abuse. Many mothers and fathers who join For Baby’s Sake had experienced their own traumatic childhood adversities. The programme works therapeutically by supporting the parents to process feelings and change behaviours through individual work and with Video Interaction Guidance (VIG). Focused on attunement and mentalisation at a vital time for their baby’s brain development, parents are empowered to build resilience for themselves and their family.

Q&A with Judith Rees and Amanda McIntyre

Mindful movement break with Wendy Bratherton

A panel facilitated by Tiane Graziottin with Simon Partridge, Vittoria De Meo and Antiqu’e Kwakye-Ampomah
ACEs: Survivors Speak Out
This panel will provide a rare platform for three survivors of childhood adversity, including domestic violence, neglect, racial discrimination, and early separation as a result of boarding school. Participants will convey something of their experience, and how it was or was not recognised or treated within the health care and other support systems.

Q&A with speaker group

Mindful movement break with Wendy Bratherton

Jocelyne Quennell, Koya Cassandra Conteh, Derek Williams, Anthea Benjamin
Racism, ACEs, and Wellbeing Therapeutic Practice
This is an opportunity to gain an overview of therapeutic approaches to wellbeing practices for children, young people, families, and communities through the therapeutic application of sports, arts, leisure, and communications technology.

Practitioners have, by ethical necessity, moved beyond the psycho-analytic frame through to applied therapeutic thinking, as well as creative and relational skills in mentoring, key-working, and creative group work. The impact of racial trauma is far-reaching in its implications, and there will be presentations on work that is making a difference to the lives of children and young people with individuals and organisations, strengthening confidence, communication skills, emotional regulation, identity, meaning, belonging, resilience, healing, and recovery.

Q&A with speaker group

Mindful movement break with Wendy Bratherton

Dr Jonathon Tomlinson and Dr Lucy Carter
Racial Trauma and Adverse Health Outcomes
For too long, differences in disease prevalence and health outcomes have been blamed on race, rather than racism. The stress of racism harms developing vascular, neuro-metabolic, endocrine, and immune systems. The consequence is a premature ‘weathering’ of Black bodies, increasing the risks of a wide range of diseases including hypertension, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, chronic pain, and more. Racism is why we saw high rates of hospitalisation and death from Covid-19. We will discuss what can be done to change medical education and clinical practice to shine a light upon the ways that racism harms Black bodies, a fact that has been hidden in plain sight for too long.

Q&A with speaker group

Mindful movement break with Wendy Bratherton

Interview with Dr Vincent Felitti
This session our speakers will consider Dr Felitti’s work and how it has influenced clinicians as well as the potential for trauma informed care across disciplines.

Felicity de Zulueta, Roger Grimshaw, Mpume Mpofu, and Leroy Logan
Closing Panel Session
Our speakers will take up the issues and queries raised during the day’s event and outline paths for future work in relation to resilience building Trauma Informed Care as we emerge from the pandemic. The event will end on a musical note.