Emotional Regulatory Healing; ERH

Transcription

1 coaching for LIFE! Offers Emotional Regulatory Healing; ERH A trauma informed response to wounded children And wounded organizations Juli Alvarado, MA, LPC, NCC Founder/Sr. Clinical Consultant Page 1 of 5

2 What is Emotional Regulatory Healing, or ERH? Everything we do at coaching for LIFE! is based on a paradigm for healing created by founder, Juli Alvarado. This paradigm directs our organizational consulting, program development, clinical practice and individual work as well. ERH is a trauma informed, global paradigm directed at the improvement of organizational, social, emotional and behavioral LIFE. ERH is an integration of the most recent research in neurodevelopment and ancient paradigms in healing of mind, body and spirit. Emotional Regulatory Healing (ERH) is based on the premise that social, emotional and behavioral challenges are symptoms of a disorganized brain. Optimal organization of the brain and our stress response system develop early in life dependent on the health of our earliest relationships and environment. The brain, whether optimally developed and organized, or not, becomes the boss of our emotions, socialization and our behavior. The Brain is the Boss of Behavior. Disorganized brain = disorganized behaviors. Organized Brain = organized behaviors. ERH is an implicit paradigm for the treatment of trauma, attachment challenges and dysregulation through relational, integrated and brain based~ (neurophysiological (mind/body) interventions. It is an intervention based in relationship and always operating in the background of the organization and the family. The improvement of emotional regulation and increased attachment; how those processes are impacted via trauma and how the trauma manifest in negative behaviors is taught to parents and professionals through explicit, brain based parenting and clinical interventions for reorganizing the brain around regulation and secure attachments. Increase emotional regulation and attachment and you will also decrease negative social, emotional and behavioral outcomes. No person acts out when they feel safe. We work to create emotionally safe relationships, families, environments and organizations in order to decrease acting out in the work place, and in the family. The result; less staff turnover, increased organizational health, a decrease in disrupted placements and failed adoptions and improvements in the macrosystem of child welfare and mental health. But, by far, the most important outcome is safer, happier and healthier kids, "our" kids Page 2 of 5

3 ERH is a developmentally-informed, biologically-respectful approach to working with at-risk children. Emotional Regulatory Healing is not a specific therapeutic technique or intervention; it is a trauma informed approach to integrated healing at the individual, couple, family and organizational level. ERH has three key components assessment, staffing/training and an array of recommended therapeutic, educational and enrichment activities. Active participation of caregivers and other adults in the child s life is important to the success of the paradigm; indeed, by weaving various activities throughout the child s various relationships and environments, the majority of therapeutic experiences are provided outside of the actual context of conventional therapy. ERH is a paradigm based in a deep understanding of attachment and trauma as predecessors to healthy emotional regulation. As we teach caregivers and professionals about the development of a child s brain, we can teach interventions targeted directly to the area of the brain in need of reorganization. coaching for LIFE! has applied ERH to the organizational level, the clinical level (ERT), the parenting level (ERP), and in the educational system; all with great success. For a list of our current and past clients, please see: Emotional Regulatory Therapy: ERT As a therapeutic paradigm, ERT integrates several core principles of neurodevelopment and healing into a comprehensive approach to the child, their current family and their broader community. ERT matches the nature and timing of interventions to the developmental stage of the child, and to the brain region and neural networks that are likely mediating the neuropsychiatric problems. (Based on NMT; Dr. Bruce Perry: Child Trauma Academy.) Emotional Regulatory Parenting: ERP As a parenting paradigm, ERP sees the caretaker/parent as the most vital relationship in the child s life. ERP moves to decrease time in therapy and increase the parent s ability and skill in providing a healing environment and relationship out of which we observe far greater outcomes than research indicates from traditional therapy with children. ERP integrates the same core principles found in ERT but takes it a step further by presenting practical application of the paradigm to direct parenting and a range of other settings where focus of the work is not specifically clinical in nature; but instead contained within the safe, healing relationship of family. Page 3 of 5

4 Emotional Regulatory Healing for the Child Welfare Organization coaching for LIFE! provides a continuum of trauma informed services to agencies who are experiencing the manifestation of massive changes in our macrosystem. We have observed our system displaying many of the symptoms that we tend to see in our traumatized client population; fragmentation, impulsive decision making, infighting, blaming, high level of stress and burnout. We recognize that your business is a living system, just as the living family system that we seek to treat effectively. We consider systems levels of functioning, health and regulation both on a macro as well as a micro level. Child welfare agencies and organizations seeking to provide treatment and support to micro systems, the family, will find that in order to move toward healing for the family system the larger system itself will need to move toward health. Becoming a trauma informed system will require macrosystem transformation at each and every level of the agency. Just as past experiences play out in the present day to day functioning of our struggling clients, past experiences will be played out in the present day to day functioning of our board members, executive staff, directors and front line service providers. This parallel process is explored, understood and transformed through training in and utilization of Emotional Regulatory Healing as your trauma informed paradigm for care. Emotional Regulatory Healing in the Schools Currently in development, ERH in the educational system includes the core principals found in the ERT and presents practical applications of the paradigm to inform educators and professionals working in schools and early childhood settings. As of August 2012, a charter school in Lakeland, Florida, Heartland Academy; is pending certification as an ERH based, educational setting for children who otherwise struggle and fail out of traditional, educational settings. Please feel free to contact Eva Horner, COO for references regarding the success of ERH in their clinical, parenting, organizational and educational settings. ehorner@heartlandforchildren.org Page 4 of 5

5 How was Emotional Regulatory Healing created? Over the last twenty years, coaching for LIFE! has developed a neurodevelopmentally informed framework for working with traumatized and maltreated clients in foster care, adoption, residential, home based and educational settings. This paradigm, created by founder, Juli Alvarado, was in part co created through her personal experience as a foster and adoptive parent, and her professional/clinical experience at various levels of responsibility in child welfare. Juli has fostered for 15 years and worked clinically and administratively in our system for more than two decades. Our paradigm for healing is just that; a paradigm, not a model of therapy. It is based on our growing understanding of complex issues facing children in today s modern world. Using a neurodevelopmental and trauma informed perspective on emotional regulation and attachment has allowed us the opportunity to generate a common set of concepts and principles based in biology. This understanding of the etiology of many problems seen in children with disrupted development has helped us better understand how to intervene and begin to heal the problems we see in these at-risk, maltreated and traumatized children, as well as the organizations that serve them. The results have been highly promising and any number of references can be provided for those seeking a trauma informed paradigm for their organization. Where is ERH currently being used? coaching for LIFE! is currently working to help transform many programs and institutions. Each of these projects is somewhat different but basically involves integrating ERH at the organizational level, into clinical practice and program development. Feel free to contact us at for a current list of clients. How is ERH brought into a program? coaching for LIFE! Provides an array of services for organizations, individuals and families. Introducing ERH as a trauma informed response involves a process of capacity building, understanding and training for all levels of an organization. We offer: Full day Trauma Informed Care Training in Emotional Regulatory Healing Three Day intensive, experiential training for direct service providers and parents Five Day intensive, experiential, training of trainers Case consultation and review Coaching for parents and providers DVD and curriculum based training materials Please visit for more information or contact us in our Denver office at. Page 5 of 5