Understanding the impact of trauma following a natural disaster

SEELEY LAKE - Did you know that kids’ brain development can be impacted directly by natural disasters such as the Rice Ridge Fire? Trauma care expert and Licensed Clinical Social Worker Stacy York will give a free seminar Nov. 8 at 6 p.m. at Seeley Lake Elementary school to help the Seeley Lake community understand brain development in children and help promote healthy development, minimize the impact of trauma from natural disasters and implement real-life, evidence-based strategies to promote healing.

The 160,187-acre Rice Ridge fire forced the majority of Seeley Lake residents under evacuation warnings for a month and a half during the summer of 2017 and blanketed the valley with hazardous smoke. For two weeks, mandatory evacuations were put in place for 580 threatened homes in the Seeley Lake area. Important community services were closed including local schools and the Food Bank. Losing the entire town was within the realm of possibility for several weeks.

Because of the remote location of Seeley Lake, the schools have become an important agent for instilling the social, emotional and resilience skills needed by this community’s children to succeed in school and in life.

Of the 199 students in preschool through eighth grade at Seeley Lake Elementary School, many children are already “at risk” and have access to limited resources. A total of 56 percent of students enrolled in this school are eligible for a federal meals program, and an estimated 30 percent of students have been impacted by trauma, as defined by the Adverse Childhood Experiences study, prior to the Rice Ridge fire.

In addition to the history of trauma, children face more challenges from the negative impacts of this recent disaster, including uncertainty, stress, physical impacts from smoke inhalation, disruption of services and daily routines and the potential for poor coping behaviors displayed by family members.

York specializes in working with children who have complex, developmental trauma from adverse childhood experiences including abuse and neglect. She is certified in the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics through the Child Trauma Academy where she works with families, educators and mental health professionals to understand how early childhood trauma has impacted brain development and what interventions help the brain heal.

Seminar attendees will gain a deeper understanding of how complex trauma and toxic stress impacts development. Topics include: how the brain develops during childhood; how traumatic and adverse experiences during childhood development can impact brain development and cause impairment in emotional development; and specific, evidenced-based strategies to address the gap between emotional development and chronological development.

As a result of York’s training, Seeley Lake adults will be better equipped to help impacted children learn helpful coping skills in the aftermath of a disaster.

The Seeley Lake Community Foundation received funding from the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, in part to put on trainings for elementary school staff and members of the Seeley Lake community on trauma-informed care, specifically geared towards those who work with youth.

 

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