Wired for survival

"Brain development begins soon after conception and continues after birth. The changes that take place in the brain in the early years of life ensure that an infant becomes highly attuned to the environment into which she was born.

"An infant raised in perilous surroundings will develop brain connections and chemical responses that are highly sensitive to signs of danger.

"Early development is for the long-term. It assumes the environment into which an infant is born will not change significantly over the span of her lifetime.

"Hence the brain connections or chemical tendencies laid down in a dangerous environment at the beginnings of life become entrenched even if an individual finds herself in a safe and secure environment in her adult years, her brain is likely to stay on constant lookout for the slightest signs of danger."

- Early Years 2: Putting Science into Action by Hon. Margaret Norris McCain, J. Fraser Mustard and Dr. Stuart Shanker

Free online classes through Child Trauma Academy

Research and study at the University of Chicago and the Baylor College of Medicine has revealed the complexities and multi-dimensional nature of the problems of childhood abuse and neglect.

The Child Trauma Academy started out as a university-based, medical model working group, but then evolved into an independent, not-for-profit "community of practice."

Their online university offers free online courses.

Right now, the courses they are offering are:
1.) "The Amazing Human Brain and Human Development"
2.) "Surviving Childhood: An Introduction to the Impact of Trauma"
3.) "The Cost of Caring: Secondary Traumatic Stress and the Impact of Working With High-Risk Children and Families"
4.) "Bonding and Attachment in Maltreated Children"

For more information, please visit:
http://childtraumaacademy.org/

Life stories to address attachment issues

Child protection: serious business.: Scrapbook Life Story Work with Kids in Foster Care.