Amid the pandemic, young people have faced increased isolation and disconnection. For Aiden, a youth dealing with mistreatment, ridicule, and exile from peers, community, and family, being isolated at home for months, has become almost unbearable. In this session, Aiden talks with a therapist for the first time, expressing deep feelings of sadness, shame, powerlessness and hopelessness that raise serious concerns about Aiden’s safety for the therapist .

In this webinar, we will meet Joshua, a young adult struggling to find his place in the world, and his therapist Dr. Michael Gomez. Feeling like a “loner” most of his life, Josh has faced many difficulties while growing up. In addition to being abandoned by his mother and lacking a connection with his foster mother, Josh also has had a “love/hate” relationship with his father. In spite of this, he still longs to be part of a family and has been trying to reconnect with his father and his father’s new wife and kids (Josh’s half siblings).

In this session you will meet Jayda, a young mother who is battling feelings of inadequacy as the parent of a toddler. Jayda is struggling to balance life’s responsibilities while experiencing loss and loneliness following the incarceration of her partner Trevor.

Introduces Miguel, a 17-year-old with a history of truancy, fighting, and multiple arrests since the age of 14— around the time his mother passed away from cancer. He lives with his grandmother and siblings and occasionally sees his father, who lives out of state. Recently, during COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, Miguel was arrested for public intoxication and resisting arrest. His previous therapist of several years has transitioned out, and he is struggling to make a real connection with his new therapist.

Shows Soledad, a 14-year-old girl who has recently been released from her first psychiatric hospitalization after an attempted suicide. Soledad is the oldest of five children. She lives with two of her siblings in a foster home while her other siblings were sent to a different house. Soledad’s mother was detained after physically attacking Soledad during what seemed to be a psychotic episode. Soledad worries about her mother and two younger siblings, whom she has not seen since they separated. This is Soledad’s first session scheduled by her welfare worker.

In this webinar, viewers meet 17-year-old Terrell, who is in his fourth therapy session—a teletherapy meeting with Dr. Wizdom Powell. During this session, Terrell realizes that he has been avoiding his feelings about his recent, challenging relationship with his stepfather. Dr. Powell also helps Terrell open up about his feelings of anger and sadness associated with the memory and deep loss of his foster father, who died in an automobile accident when Terrell was just a boy. Terrell discovers a path in his family relationships that allows him to honor and sustain a connection with both of his fathers.

In this webinar, you will meet Penny and her adopted mother, Jan, who are in an emergency session with Dr. Ford. Penny was sent home from school for assaulting another child.

Often, adolescents may feel heard but not listened to in their family environment. This may be especially true in families with a history of trauma and/or family violence. This webinar will demonstrate approaches therapists can take to help adolescents feel more invested in the family therapy process. During this session, presenters will highlight critical decision points as they relate to trauma and explore them from various perspectives, including that of the therapist and family members.

In this webinar, viewers will meet Kate and her daughter, Dani, who are in their first therapy session with Dr. Saltzman. This session takes place one year after the sudden and traumatic loss of Jim, their husband and father. Dr. Saltzman helps both Kate and Dani to express their feelings and concerns and explore how they are dealing differently with their shared loss. As they work through the session, Dr. Saltzman helps Kate and Dani to start finding common ground and developing a plan to move forward.

Shows the modern-day manifestations of the intersection of historical, intergenerational, and migration trauma and its compounding impact with present-day traumatic stressors on the parent-child relationship of an indigenous Guatemalan parent whose young child came to the US as an unaccompanied minor when they are reunified. Viewers will also see a framework for engagement where the therapeutic relationship is used to restore safety, co-regulation, protection, and hope in the parent-child relationship. This framework is aimed not only at repairing the child-parent relationship but also at exploring, acknowledging, and including the family’s historical and socio-cultural context in developmental trauma treatment.

Debbie is a 10-year-old multiracial girl who lives with her 27 year old African American mother Sharon. Sharon has struggled for years with substance abuse. The family lived for several years in a shared space which was quite chaotic. During this time, Debbie often would be with other children in the building for many hours at a time without adult supervision. Many adults would come in and out of the building, and Debbie often did not see her mother, sometimes, for days. During this session Sharon begins to dissociate and the therapist must now find away to comfort Debbie while supporting Sharon.

In this Webinar you will meet Joshua, a 15-year-old who has been in and out of DCF care and foster homes his whole life. Recently he was arrested for attempt of armed robbery. In this session, the therapist was asked by DCF to work on strengthening the relationship between Joshua and his father to see if he could move in and live with his father’s family in the future.

A client reveals during her first therapy session that she discovered her adoptive mother hid letters from her biological mother. In her past, she was placed in several foster care homes after incidents of physical and sexual abuse and family violence related to drug use by her mother and male partners. Though she was adopted two years ago, finding these hidden letters has escalated her feelings of distrust and not being accepted as a full member of her adoptive family.