Ep. 18: Trauma-sensitive yoga effective with LGBTQ+ youth
Justice In Action
Sexual assault, bullying and harassment are traumatic for all survivors of any age. Transgender and non-binary youth are at high risk for encountering these experiences, which can lead to the development of complex trauma that may include a lack of trust in other people and even estrangement from their own bodies. About half of all transgender or non-binary youth have experienced sexual assault. As a result, many experience anxiety and depression, including suicidal thoughts, and are more likely than their cis-gender peers to live with a sense of...
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Ep. 17: Substance Use Recovery
Justice In Action
Guiding our clients toward recovery from substance use disorder The opioid epidemic has increased the demand for effective recovery services, and Justice Resource Institute’s Mary Chao is leading the organization’s training program for clinicians and other staff members to aid them in helping clients recover. Chao has been with JRI for nine years and works with the agency’s health, training and community-based services divisions, developing and coordinating substance use programming throughout the agency. She works closely with clients ages 12 to 24 and the JRI clinicians who help them...
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Ep. 16: Mental Heath Treatment for Clients with Developmental Differences
Justice In Action
Mental health clinicians are often reluctant to treat people who have intellectual and developmental differences (IDDs) for fear of doing something that could worsen rather than improve the client’s condition. In this episode of Justice in Action, two JRI clinicians, Dr. Jacquelyn Kraps, Metrowest Area Director and Clinical Director of Outpatient Services, and Bailey McCombs, Licensed Metal Health Counselor and Expressive Arts Therapist, talk about the rewards and challenges of working with children with a range of differences, from autism spectrum disorder to chromosomal differences,...
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Ep. 15: Data and research improve treatment of complex trauma
Justice In Action
Few social service agencies are as committed as JRI to improving treatment through research and data. In today’s episode of Justice in Action, we talk to Hilary Hodgdon, Research Director at Justice Resource Institute, and Lia Martin, Senior Associate Director of Quality Management. Together, they are part of a data and research division that is unusual among social service agencies for its size and scope. JRI clients suffer from complex trauma. On average, a child or adolescent seeing a JRI therapist has experienced three different types of trauma, such as neglect, physical abuse or...
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Ep. 14: Courageous Conversations
Justice In Action
Staff of Justice Resource Institute don’t shy away from talking about tough issues like racial justice, immigration policy or vaccine hesitancy.
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Ep. 13: Covid-19 pandemic boosts need for foster homes
Justice In Action
More than 8,400 Massachusetts children are in foster care, and the need is growing as the financial and emotional strain of the Covid-19 pandemic and the state’s opioid crisis continue to take a toll on children and families.
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Ep. 12: Permanent Connections are Vital for a Child’s Success
Justice In Action
We all need the people in our lives who know us and care about us, who celebrate our successes and comfort us in hard times. These are the people we call when we get a new job, lock our keys in the car or are facing a big decision.
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Ep. 11: Children's Advocacy Center
Justice In Action
CAC mental health clinicians Brittannie Moroz and Jillian Allen shared CDC data stating one in four girls and one in 13 boys under age 18 suffer trauma as a result of child sexual abuse. Those children are some of the approximately 75,000 Bristol County children age 16 and younger be-lieved to have suffered trauma from abuse, violence, addiction in their homes or other causes of childhood trauma.
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Ep. 10: Trauma-sensitive yoga w/ Jennifer Turner
Justice In Action
Trauma-sensitive yoga helps sufferers use their bodies to heal their spirits
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Ep. 9: The Wounded Healer
Justice In Action
Helping the healer when their work unearths old symptoms of trauma
info_outlineBetween 700 and 800 cases of child sexual abuse are referred on average each year to the Children’s Advocacy Center of Bristol County, which provides treatment and support to victims and their families.
But in the past year, the number of referrals has dropped to about 250 cases. That isn’t necessarily good news, however, as it reflects the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw lengthy periods when schools were closed, and athletic teams and other activities were suspended. As a result, people who are required under the law to report suspected cases of child sexual assault have had only irregular contact with children they normally see, which often means that cases go unreported.
CAC mental health clinicians Brittannie Moroz and Jillian Allen shared CDC data stating one in four girls and one in 13 boys under age 18 suffer trauma as a result of child sexual abuse. Those children are some of the approximately 75,000 Bristol County children age 16 and younger believed to have suffered trauma from abuse, violence, addiction in their homes or other causes of childhood trauma.
Depending on the age of the child, trauma often manifests itself in both physical and emotional symptoms, from trouble sleeping to anger and acting out, anxiety and depression, or changes in appearance or behavior. The CAC helps by offering not only traditional talk therapy but also other physical forms of treatment that can help children relieve physical, emotional and psychological symptoms associated with trauma by giving them tools to manage those symptoms. Soon, they hope to also offer trauma-sensitive yoga as well.
“Every child experiences trauma so differently and every child is so unique,” said Allen. “You may have a child who is really withdrawn and isolated…as opposed to a child who is angry and lashing out.”
The CAC works with teachers to help them recognize signs of potential abuse, something more and more schools are building into teacher training programs.
“Traumatic stress symptoms are actually very treatable,” said Moroz. Treatment begins with building a relationship with each child to help re-establish trust and to build confidence.
An expansion of the CAC’s facility in Fall River will provide more room for offering trauma-informed treatments meant to help those children feel safe and overcome the symptoms of abuse.
Learn more about what the Children’s Advocacy Center of Bristol County is doing and how they provide trauma informed treatment to children affected by child abuse.