Laconia, NH -   How does a child endure after losing his family in a natural disaster?  How does a little girl cope after having been brutally raped?   How does a young person heal after homelessness and hardship?  Traumatic events may be large events that impact one town or the whole country, or may be small events that affect an individual, a family or a community. No matter the size, traumatic events are extremely distressing experiences that can cause emotional shock, physical pain and have long-lasting effects on those who experience them.     

 

To address this important subject as it relates to children and adolescents, Child and Family Services of NH presents special seminars for industry professionals and for parents featuring John Woodall, M.D., a world-renowned expert on social crisis, trauma response and building resilience in individuals and communities.       

 

Dr. Woodall is the founder and director of The Unity Project, a not-for-profit corporation that promotes resilient competencies that transform crisis into opportunities for personal well-being,

community development and economic prosperity.  A board certified psychiatrist with a special expertise in post-traumatic stress disorder, he is co-founder of the Healing Arts Project, working with New York City’s Department of Youth and Community Development to prepare youth for life in the global community.      

 

A faculty member of Harvard Medical School, Dr. Woodall was the convener of the Resilient Responses to Social Crisis Working Group at Harvard University’s Mind Brain Behavior Initiative and a research fellow at the Judge Baker Children’s Center.  He has consulted with government agencies, the United Nations, universities and international organizations on issues of community building and inter-ethnic reconciliation in the United States, Europe, Central America, the Middle East, Cyprus and the Balkans.  He also directed a USAID funded refugee relief effort in Croatia and has continued with inter-ethnic coalition building efforts in Bosnia and the Middle East. 

 

Road to Resilience:  A conference for professionals on trauma and resilience in the clinical setting  is the professional seminar that is designed to address the frustrations and rewards that result from working with children and adolescents who’ve experienced trauma.  The chances of a successful intervention can be greatly increased with knowledge of how children acquire key resiliencies.  This workshop will look at resilience as it relates to the treatment challenges of poor motivation, depression, suicidal ideation, social isolation, resistance and other common clinical presentations of young people.  The seminar will take place on Monday, February 11, 2008, from 9:00am - 4:30pm at The Inns & Spa at Mill Falls in Meredith, NH and is $55.00 per person ($65 after Feb. 1).  Breakfast and registration will begin at 8:00am.  To register and for directions, click here or call (603) 518-4156.  Six CEUs will be available for professionals licensed by the NH Board of Mental Health Practice and the NH Board of Licensed Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Professionals.  Contact hours will also be available.

 

This special presentation of Child and Family Services’ Lakes Region Office is made possible by the generous support of The Samuel P. Pardoe Foundation, The Devonshire Foundation and Genesis Behavioral Health.

 

Child and Family Services will also present a community forum specially designed for parents, coaches, youth, etc. The forum is free and will be held at Laconia High School on Monday, February 11 from 7:00pm-9:00pm.  Refreshments will be provided.   Advance reservation is recommended as space is limited.   Reservations may be made by calling 603-518-5156.