Treating Traumatized Teens and Emerging Adults

 Earn 5 CE Contact Hours

Traumatized adolescents and young adults struggle with self-regulation. They are dysregulated across systems neurologically, cognitively, physically, emotionally, behaviorally, socially, and spiritually. Anxious and vigilant, and unable to trust themselves or caregivers, they may experience even loving relationships as confusing and frightening. These young people felt the losses and disruptions of the Covid-19 pandemic more profoundly than their peers and, even six years later, their developmental lags may persist. Many have not bounced back.

To learn self-soothing, they must first be able to rely upon others and discover the comfort of co-regulation. They benefit from relationships with adults that provide them with the psychological (and physical) sense of stability and containment they cannot yet supply themselves. To be effective then, it’s crucial for involved adults to first foster their own capacity for self-awareness and self-regulation.

In this workshop, you will learn about Developmental-Relational Therapy (DRT), an attachment-based model of trauma treatment. You will learn and practice mindful, empathic strategies that help teens feel more secure, connected, present, and regulated—even over Zoom. You will discover how to get unhooked from old enactments by exploring: (a) The additional challenges for development and treatment of continuous trauma when safety cannot be guaranteed, (b) The Four M’s—mirroring, mentalizing, mindfulness, and modulation—to increase connection and mood regulation, and (c) The React, Reflect, and Respond approach to providing corrective relational experiences.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• To review the impact of complex and continuous traumatic exposure and pandemic-related stress on development and effective therapy
• To explore four relational pathways for healing the interpersonal effects of developmental trauma
• To understand co-regulation across intrapersonal and interpersonal systems
• To describe adult behavior that increases calm, intentional, empathic interactionTo discuss specific intervention strategies to help youth in both highly activated and deactivated dysregulated states
• To provide corrective relational experiences by getting hooked and unhooked from worrisome and provocative behavior

Who Should Attend:

Mental health professionals, therapists, social workers, counselors, psychologists, school-based clinicians, and youth-serving professionals who work with traumatized adolescents, teens, and emerging adults. This workshop is especially valuable for clinicians seeking attachment-based, trauma-informed, and relational approaches to supporting emotional regulation, co-regulation, and healing in young people impacted by complex trauma, chronic stress, and developmental disruptions.

Meet Dr. Straus:

Martha B. Straus, PhD, is a professor emerita in the Department of Clinical Psychology at Antioch University New England Graduate School in Keene, New Hampshire. Straus is an international trainer, speaking on topics related to child, adolescent, and family development, attachment, trauma, and psychotherapy. She maintains a small private practice in Brattleboro, Vermont. She’s the author of numerous articles and eight books including most recently a co-authored third edition of The Lost Art of Listening: How Learning to Listen Can Improve Relationships (2021), Cool, Calm, and Connected: A Workbook for Parents and Children to Co-regulate, Manage Big Emotions & Build Stronger Bonds (2021), and Treating Trauma in Adolescents: Development, Attachment, and the Therapeutic Relationship (2017).