Oklahoma Creates Statewide Initiative on Child Trauma

The State of Oklahoma is increasing its investment
in child trauma work and evidence-based treatment practices. Since November 2004, the three
NCTSN sites in Oklahoma have met regularly with officials from the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services to brainstorm about ways to raise the standard of
care for trauma- exposed children in the state. The initial meeting was convened by the NCTSN
Center in Tulsa, the Oklahoma Child Traumatic Stress Treatment Collaborative. The goal was to use the collective expertise of the NCTSN sites to facilitate state grant initiatives and improve the state’s capacity to address the needs of youth exposed to trauma.

“Being a SAMSHA/NCTSN grantee has had an impact reaching far beyond what we hoped for
through the original grant project,” said Gail Lapidus, Principal Investigator of the Oklahoma Child Traumatic Stress Treatment Collaborative.

“Our participation has galvanized a broad center-wide commitment to train all practitioners working with children on the impact of child trauma. The NCTSN Breakthrough Series Collaborative
afforded us a unique opportunity to expand the
child trauma knowledge of our key local child welfare and juvenile court partners. And our statewide collaborators are working together to bring attention to the needs of traumatized children across Oklahoma,” she said. ”All this success from one grant is pretty phenomenal.” (Continued)

APSAC Colloquium Showcases Trauma Work of Network Members

NCTSN was well represented at the 14th Annual Colloquium of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC), held June 21-24, 2006 in Nashville, TN. More than 20 Network members, including those from the NCTSN Trauma Intervention Center for Children and Adolescents in Nashville, attended the conference.

John Briere from the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California set the stage by providing an opening plenary on an evolutionary understanding of trauma and abuse and future implications. During the William Friedrich Memorial Awards Ceremony, Tony Mannarino, from the Allegheny General Hospital Center for Traumatic Stress in Children and Adolescents, was recognized for his outstanding leadership as APSAC president.  Lucy Berliner, from the Harborview Center for Sexual Assault and Traumatic Stress, earned the William Friedrich Award for her work and dedication to clinical excellence with children who have been sexually abused.

In a preconference colloquium, Tony Mannarino also provided training on the evidence-based practice he co-developed, in his session on “Trauma Focused-Cognitive Behavior Model.” Ben Saunders and Dan Smith from the Medical University of South Carolina NCTSN Center gave an overview of “Evidence-Supported Treatment for Abused and Traumatized Children.” Michael de Arellano and Carla Danielson, from the National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center, Medical University of South Carolina, presented a workshop on “Culturally-Modified Trauma-Focused Treatment: Intervention for Hispanic and Child Maltreatment Victims.” Art Therapists Lani Batson-Ramos and Pam Vallet, of the Trauma Intervention Center for Children & Adolescents, presented a session on “Art Therapy Principles in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy as used in Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy." (Continued)