I feel very fortunate regarding my interviewees. My first candidate is a former colleague of mine. She was a school counselor at my district and did a remarkable job. She had the skill set and natural rapport to form a connection with any child within five minutes. Fortunately, although she left the district, she continues to be a source of information and advice when needed. Currently, she is on vacation with her family in Florida. Thus, we will be having the interview next week when they return home and are settled. I look forward to her insights regarding working with children who have experienced trauma.
My second candidate I do not know personally but she came highly recommended. She is considered the "go to" person for young children who have experienced trauma. She is a counselor at a local office her in Wausau. Like Debbie, she happens to be on vacation, though in Canada, so we will be getting together this Tuesday to discuss strategies in working with young children who have experienced trauma. The only real challenge thus far in the interview process has been in finding time to meet with very busy professionals.
My course major project has been coming along very well. I only have five more journal articles to disseminate. The 15 I have so far include research in effects of parental drug or alcohol abuse on children, effects of toxic stress on children, and how to treat children who have suffered from stress and post traumatic stress disorder. It has been very challenging finding research within the last five years. Moreover, the majority of my database searches come back with research on children who use drugs or alcohol despite my search terms. None-the-less, I have thus far managed to meet the criteria.I can't say that very much of the data was unexpected. So far, my research has turned illustrated what I would have thought the results to be. It is disheartening how difficult it can be for kids to overcome the severe circumstances with which they must survive in these circumstances. As one may expect, some of these children grow up to find themselves abusing drugs or alcohol. Especially those who suffered violence. Kilpatrick, Acierno, Saunders, Resnick, and Best (2000) explained, "...substance use represents a strategy to cope with the stress produced by interpersonal aggression (Bean, 1992; Brown, 1989; Dembo et al., 1987; Ireland & Widom, 1994; Lindberg & Distad, 1985)" (p. 19).
References
Center on the Developing Child - Harvard University. [Image]. Retrieved from http://wellcommons.com/groups/aces/tags/toxic-stress/://
Kilpatrick, D. G., Acierno, R., Saunders, B., Resnick, H. S., Best, C. L., & Schnurr, P. P. (2000). Risk factors for adolescent substance abuse and dependence: Data from a national sample. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 68(1), 19-30. doi:10.1037/0022-006x.68.1.19
