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renee@centerforchildcounseling.org Latest News

Your Gift Now Helps Far into the Future

On Giving Tuesday Now…

Think About Children Today, Next Week and Beyond.

The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting shutdown is deeply affecting our children, families, and entire community.

Before this crisis, anxiety, depression and suicide rates among children and teens were already at an all-time high. Now they are at dire, never-before-seen levels. Mental health services for youth are an immediate and growing need, but are also a solution.

During this crisis and in the future, we are here to help the most vulnerable children in our community.

Since the beginning of this crisis, our team has worked diligently to ensure continuation of care for children and families through telehealth services. Unfortunately, due to stress-related child abuse and domestic violence, we expect the need to grow exponentially in the upcoming months.

Will you help us increase our ability to meet this critical need?

When you give today, your donation has an immediate, positive impact for the children we serve, and every gift matters.

Examples of how your dollars help...

  • $50 One virtual Play Therapy session
  • $100 One virtual parent or caregiver workshop
  • $500 Three months of Play Therapy sessions
  • $1,000 Therapeutic supplies and toys for therapists' Trauma Kits
  • $2,500 Clinical workshops for professionals working with children

We are inspired by how communities are coming together during these uncertain times, and we're so grateful for your support, no matter how you choose to help.

Support Center for Child Counseling's Emergency Relief Fund

Together, we can help children cope and heal, today and in the future.

Give Today

Want to Get Involved in Other Ways?

Help Us Raise Awareness

We are building the foundation for playful, healthful, and hopeful living for children and families in Palm Beach County. Any effort you take to raise awareness about our mission is appreciated.

Whether you talk directly with others (from a safe distance!) or post to social media, we benefit from your advocacy. Click here to read a recent article from the Washington Post that describes the impact of social isolation for children.

Here are some hashtags, links, and other resources you can use to promote our cause:

#Giving Tuesday #MentalHealth #FightingACEs

Learn more about our COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund

Fighting ACEs Amid the Pandemic

Kerry Jamieson Uncategorized

When a pandemic hits, and suddenly nothing is the same, it’s a sobering opportunity to take a deep breath and to take stock. It’s not the time to focus on fear and panic but rather a unique opportunity to identify how exactly your organization can be of service during times of extreme stress. As a nonprofit, our mission does not change. Rather than spiraling down in anxiety and fear of the unknown, we see the chance to examine every area of our work to find ways for our unique skills to benefit the community, now and in the uncertain future.

At Center for Child Counseling, we specialize in childhood trauma and building a more trauma-informed community. We are in the business of Fighting ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences). We are not a food bank or a homeless outreach program, although we’re happy to partner with other agencies to help our clients secure those services. What we do best is work with children and families impacted by trauma by helping them to build practical skills and strengthen their own resilience. Almost everybody can use this kind of help in the current climate! So, where can we turn our efforts while continuing to operate with laser focus on our mission?

It all comes back to basics. Children raised in homes of intense, sustained stress can have their neurological development impaired. Trauma can affect the lifelong mental and physical health of growing children. Right now, our children are experiencing extreme stress. Even normally stable households may be facing unexpected circumstances like unemployment or problems paying bills for the first time. We know that rates of domestic violence and child abuse rise when stress increases.

Our mission, now and for many years to comes, will be to cope with the fallout of this pandemic on our children and families.

We’ve looked at the full spectrum of need in our area of expertise and identified the places where our unique skills can be a part of the solution. From individual children, to families, to parent-teachers, to the community in general, we’re working every day in the most innovative ways possible to share our knowledge and deepen our impact.

…Switching to Telehealth

Several years ago, we saw the benefit of exploring telehealth. Nonprofits who don’t embrace technology will not survive. We secured a grant from Quantum Foundation and partnered with Dr. Eugenia Millender to conduct a pilot roll-out of a telehealth platform. At that time, ten senior staff members were identified as champions for this work. The timing could not have been more opportune. When the Coronavirus pandemic hit and schools closed, those ten employee champions immediately began training our full complement of staff on the telehealth platform. We pivoted quickly to the new telehealth model, continuing to serve our clients and tackle our waiting list.

There were challenges. Some parents struggled with barriers to care like an unfamiliarity with technology, unreliable internet service, and difficulty executing the required permissions and consents to receive services. Our skilled therapists, who are usually hands-on and fully engaged physically in their Play Therapy sessions, now had to rely on other techniques like drawing, music, and remote games to interact with their clients.

Even over the short time of a few weeks, people are becoming more used to online interactions and more familiar with video conferencing technology. In the past, when a child was introduced into the child welfare system via Childnet, only 49-50% of families attended in-person therapy sessions. That has risen to 90-95% now that a virtual option is available to them. It’s been a steep learning curve and will continue to be one, although we believe telehealth will, in some way, augment our traditional services for a portion of our clients when things return to a more normal state.

…Making an Impact with Individual Children

As we work with our clients, we’re seeing the uncertainty and fear of Coronavirus manifest itself. One client recently disclosed to his therapist during a session that he had a degree of suicidal ideation related to body image issues. She was able to process the issues, screened him for his current level of risk, created a safety plan (with a list of triggers, coping skills, steps to take/numbers to contact, if needed, etc.). The therapist then had a conference call with the boy and his mother to share the plan and go over ways to ensure safety. The boy’s mood was positive at the end of the session and he expressed hope about his goals and future progress. The therapist conducted regular phone check-ins over the next few days and will follow up regularly, as needed. Since isolation and altered routines can exacerbate existing conditions, we’re vigilantly guarding all our children’s well-being and we’re equipping parents to be vigilant, too.

…Offering Free Help to Families

The hunger for sound advice from experts in the mental health field has skyrocketed as families look for answers to emerging dynamics they haven’t encountered before. The changing structure of everyday life has turned relationships topsy-turvy. Anxiety and stress among all family members is on the rise. For this reason, we’ve made many of our Institute for Clinical Training online learning modules available for free. These workshops offer practical guidance from licensed mental health professionals on everyday topics that are immediately useful to parents and families, including:
• How to Help My Child Listen
• How to Structure Your Child’s Day for Success

…Providing Support to New Parent-Teachers

Unexpectedly, millions of parents across the country find themselves as full-time teachers amid the pandemic. Center for Child Counseling already works with teachers in Palm Beach County. We’re co-located in 22 schools as well as childcare and community centers, so we are familiar with the stresses and needs of professional educators. But the unexpected situation of thousands of inexperienced and stressed-out parent-teachers posed a new challenge. For anyone in a position of teaching (or simply being with) a child, we have updated our manual entitled “A Way of Being with Children: Managing Feelings and Behaviors in the Classroom and Beyond”. Every parent in the country will benefit from the vital, practical information the guide provides on attitude and acceptance, childhood development, limit setting, and managing behavior.

…Strengthening Community Supports

In times of increased stress, we see a rise in domestic violence, substance abuse, and as a result a rise in the number of children being removed from their homes. Housing teens removed from their families amid a pandemic, especially where social distancing is required, is a huge challenge. The Department of Fish and Wildlife, which runs summer camp programs, will be taking care of children in Okeechobee this summer, but they knew their staff and counselors would need help to work with children who may be traumatized and require extra attention beyond the needs of an average camper. In partnership with the Department of Children and Families, the Director of our Childhood Trauma Response Team, Anne-Marie Brown, responded immediately by providing training for these care providers. This vital expertise will help these traumatized children from being traumatized again.

In every way possible, we are #FightingACEs and Coronavirus in a way that makes the most sense to us as a childhood mental health agency. The fight will not be over soon – not when “safer at home” directives are removed, and not next year when Covid-19 is hopefully under greater control. The implications of the first few months of 2020 will be felt for a very long time. We can only keep doing what we do, helping each child, each family, each new parent-teacher, and the community at large to understand Adverse Childhood Experiences and learn better ways of being with children. Our message is simple and clear; in times of prosperity and of crisis, it remains the same: The future must be faced, so let’s face it armed with knowledge, hope, and compassion.

Sign up now for news, events, and education about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and promoting resilience.

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Innovation in a Crisis

Kerry Jamieson Uncategorized

When most people think about science, they think about how our physical bodies work, how all the systems operate together, the biology, physics, and chemistry of life…but science is a big part of mental health, too. At the Center for Child Counseling we use the latest scientific breakthroughs on the child’s developing brain to help children, teens, and their caregivers address trauma and adversity while building resilience. We are Palm Beach County’s preeminent agency in child mental health, from birth to aged 18.

We’ve always used best practices, neurobiology, and even epigenetics (how genes are coded and expressed) in our fight against ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences). We operate 8 programs throughout Palm Beach County, serving over 4,000 children and their families each year. We go to where the children are. That means operating in co-located sites in schools, community and childcare centers as well as our own Play Therapy rooms and our clients’ homes. Due to the Coronavirus outbreak, all those avenues of reaching children are closed to us, but we’re resilient, too!

We’ve quickly pivoted to a telehealth model. Our therapists are all still working with our clients using HIPAA compliant apps. We’re using online training and videos more and more, creating fresh content every day. While we focus on the mental health of children, that often means working with the whole family. Right now, families are going to need the support of mental health professionals more than ever. Research shows that periods of high stress exacerbate issues like family dysfunction, substance abuse, domestic violence, and child abuse, so right now we need to protect Palm Beach County’s children in every way possible.

We’ve quickly responded to requests for resources by adding pages full of practical hints and tips to our website (general help and crisis-specific material). These links include home schooling help, resources that encourage parents and caregivers to practice self-care and manage their own anxiety, book suggestions and fun, educational videos for kids like what the Coronavirus is all about and why we need to practice healthy habits like hand washing. Many think tweens and teens stay connected via digital devices so may not feel they’re struggling with “social distancing” but they are. In fact, helping ‘quaranteens’ may be some parents’ biggest challenge. We have online resources just for them, too!

As a science-based nonprofit, we know that science is going to be the solution to this pandemic and the science of resilience is at the heart of what we all can do to stay mentally strong and healthy in the meantime.

Renée Layman, CEO
Center for Child Counseling

ACEs and Intergenerational Trauma

Kerry Jamieson Blog, Fighting ACEs PBC, Latest News

When inadequate parenting skills and toxic environments are passed down from parent to child, a cycle of hopelessness and helplessness can ensue. How can we address the deep needs of children and families embroiled in intergenerational trauma?

A child’s mental health mirrors a family’s mental health. For the first years of life, up until he/she goes to school, a child experiences the world through their parents’ activities; their life is mostly home-based where they are surrounded by a small group of familiar caregivers. For most children, this leads to strong, healthy attachment with their parents and familial bonds that last a lifetime. Ideally, children are nurtured, supported, encouraged, and positively reinforced. They leave their home equipped to face the world and interact appropriately with peers, employers, and  future romantic partners. This is the ideal scenario. Most of us experienced some disruption of this process, a degree of household dysfunction or unexpected change such as a divorce or the loss of a parent. Because positive buffers like a supportive relationship with the remaining parent were in place, we adapted, used our resilience to bounce back, and soldiered on successfully.

However, for some households, the degree of dysfunction, abuse, and neglect is so extreme and relentless that it reaches traumatic levels, affecting the physical health and brain development of the young children who are surrounded by it. When these children grow up, if their Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) remain unaddressed, they are vulnerable to repeating the patterns they learned in their own childhoods. They bring dysfunction into the lives of their children and so it continues. This is called the cycle of intergenerational trauma.

Intergenerational trauma isn’t just a pattern of behavior that’s learned and repeated. It’s a brain development issue. Some family members may exhibit a behavior called “learned helplessness”. A person with this condition accepts a feeling of powerlessness in the face of repeated and seemingly insurmountable adverse experiences. Eventually, the person may stop trying to improve their situation, even when positive alternatives are presented. Recent studies in neuroscience seem to indicate that the brain’s default setting is to assume lack of control and that it is the “helpfulness”, solution-seeking, and resilience that are actually learned.

Based on these scientific principles, all of Center for Child Counseling’s programs are trauma-informed and help to address deep-seated trauma through evidenced-based treatment approaches. However, one program is focused on using a distinctive, nationally-recognized approach: Child First. Child First, was developed in Connecticut by Darcy Lowell, MD and Palm Beach County was the first replication of the program out of the state. Funded by the Children’s Services Council of Palm Beach County, Child First works with our most vulnerable young children and their caregivers.

Clarissa DeWitt, Senior Clinical Director, describes intergenerational trauma as a situation where a portion of the population has experienced adversity going back for decades, to the point where the adversity is at a neurological level, affecting the development of young children’s growing brains and even influencing the expression of genes, which genes are “turned on” and which ones are “turned off”. “Going back through the family tree, we can see historical trauma being passed from adult to child until it’s literally embedded in their genetic makeup,” explains DeWitt.

The Child First program focuses on the needs of the child while also addressing how past trauma impacts the relationships between parents or caregivers and their children. “If we can get the parent to a place where they can understand their own story and how it has affected their choices and parenting style and move them towards being more present and adaptive parents to their children, we have intervened to stop the cycle. If each generation gets a little better,” says DeWitt. “We can alter the course of society’s future.”

The program uses a dyadic approach, working with BOTH caregiver and child in a relationship-based environment. Often, caregivers in these traumatized homes have never seen what a healthy parent-child relationship looks like, so the therapist models those behaviors for them to learn from and imitate. The parallel process, children learning and improving their behaviors while their caregivers learn better parenting skills, works to help both parties. Building strong parent-child bonds is crucial, especially during times of stress when children look to their parents for guidance and reassurance. The current Coronavirus pandemic will bring tremendous stress to already-taxed family situations and studies indicate that we can expect to see a rise in cases of domestic violence, substance abuse, and child neglect. Our children need your help to provide services for these kinds of deeply-rooted issues right now and in the days and weeks to come.

Child First is a part of the Healthy Beginnings System of Care, an entity created by the Palm Beach County taxpayers in the 1980s. Funding is distributed via the Children’s Services Council which has a mission of ensuring all children in Palm Beach County grow up free from abuse and neglect and in a developmentally appropriate manner. Those tax dollars go to programs like Child First to help very young children by changing the trajectory of their lives. Families referred for help go through a centralized intake process via Home Safe and Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies, then they are connected to services with the most appropriate agency for their needs. Center for Child Counseling’s Infant Mental Health Program is also a part of this system of care.

The work managed by Child First is not typical clinical work. On average, a family will stay with the program for a year; some need a year and a half or even two years to make progress. Two people are assigned to support the family: a clinician and a care coordinator. “When your family is steeped in current difficulties, it’s hard to think about processing your past trauma,” says DeWitt. “We focus on the idea of stabilizing the family and getting them to a more secure place in order to be ready to do the therapeutic work with the clinician. It’s a unique model requiring specially-qualified therapists with hands-on experience and a depth of understanding.”

Initially the Child First team meet with their client families twice a week. There is a lengthy two-month assessment period. “We don’t motivate to change things we don’t understand. We have to appreciate the dynamics of the family and understand why they embrace some suggestions and resist others.”

Because this deep therapeutic work is intense and time consuming, it requires the dedication of very special and specialized mental health professionals. Recently, Center for Child Counseling’s Child First program expanded, after absorbing the program serving southern Palm Beach County. Located in Lake Worth, Clinical Director Karen Haag brings years of experience to Center for Child Counseling. An additional four teams will double our organizational capacity to use this effective model.

Although intergenerational trauma is an enormous challenge, we can end on a hopeful note. The concept of the family unit has existed for as long as human beings have. It is the cornerstone of human survival, connection, and support. It has evolved over time. We now embrace all sorts of family units beyond the traditional nuclear family and research indicates that love beats all when it comes to raising healthy children. The joy of family should be celebrated. The benefits of keeping families connected is enormous. Within the nurturing care of multi-generational families, we learn so much. Who didn’t learn some skill, hobby, or good habit from their grandparents? For many, recalling times with multiple generations of family members are their most treasured memories. Let’s keep our families strong and cherish the irreplaceable lessons and the love they can give us when family relationships are working well.

Sign up now for news, events, and education about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and promoting resilience.

By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive emails from: Center for Child Counseling, 8895 N. Military Trail, Palm Beach Gardens, FL, 33410. You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email.

Child Trauma Counseling Remains Top Priority During Coronavirus Pandemic

renee@centerforchildcounseling.org Latest News, Uncategorized

West Palm Beach, Fla. (March 19, 2020) – Amid the Covid-19 crisis, Palm Beach County’s first responders to children in trauma are focused on what they do best: offering immediate help to vulnerable children suffering the impact of abuse and fear. The Center for Child Counseling is responding to the local Coronavirus situation by taking innovative measures to make services available to children and caregivers through virtual support.

Already used to manning the front lines of childhood trauma for the county, thanks to a grant from Quantum Foundation last year, steps have already been taken toward offering telehealth and technology-based services, including training staff therapists on the required platforms that assure patients’ confidential and safe treatment outside of in-person sessions and home visits. We are not only ready to go with new capabilities, our staff are proactively preparing for long-term strategies to help children and families cope and heal when the unspeakable happens.

“Families who need our services are already dealing with compounded life stressors such as poverty, instability, substance, and mental or physical health issues that result in abusive or neglectful behaviors toward children,” stated Renée Layman, Center for Child Counseling’s chief executive officer. “We expect to see incidents rise along with Coronavirus rates and the additional anxiety caregivers are experiencing with job and school closings, a surge in need for basic supplies and food, and the potential threat of homelessness. We simply must protect our children from the fallout of this crisis and also show parents and caregivers the extra support they need to cope with stress and be there for their families.”

Center for Child Counseling implores caregivers to seek help immediately if behavior has already harmed a child or if they find themselves unable to cope or have out-of-control feelings due to stress. Regular updates about service availability and ways to help can be found on Center for Child Counseling’s website and social media pages, including managing your child’s Coronavirus fears.

You can help now. The community is urged to donate to the Emergency Response Fund established to immediately support vulnerable children and families during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Questions and funding opportunities should be addressed directly to Renée Layman or call 561-244-9499 ext. 1.

Center for Child Counseling

The trusted experts at Center for Child Counseling are on the front line of childhood trauma as first responders to families, schools, and the child welfare system. Services help prevent and heal the impact of toxic stress and abuse on children, promote resiliency, reinforce healthy family, school, and community relationships, and provide trauma-informed training for adult caregivers, teachers, and healthcare professionals.

Center for Child Counseling Expands – Child First Program in South County

Kerry Jamieson Uncategorized
Child First Clinicians Vanessa Gomez and Cynthia Nicholas

Center for Child Counseling is delighted to announce that we have expanded, doubling the capacity of our Child First Program. Funded by the Children’s Services of Palm Beach County, Child First is a national, evidence-based, two-generation model that works with very vulnerable young children and families, providing intensive, home-based services.

When young children grow up in environments where there is violence, neglect, mental illness, or substance abuse, the stress can be toxic to their developing brains. The good news is that we can intervene to prevent this damage. Scientific research demonstrates that we can make a difference if we:
• Work to connect families to community-based services that alleviate their stress
• Build strong, loving, parent-child relationships that protect and heal the brain from trauma

The most unique aspect of the program is the special way it uses a dyadic (two-way) approach to helping children by also addressing issues their parents might be experiencing or have experienced in the past.

To help a child we must help the family. All parents/caregivers want to give their children the best possible opportunity to succeed. When caregivers face multiple stressors and their basic needs are not met, it is difficult for them to focus on the emotional and developmental needs of their children.

  • Caregivers’ own life experiences influence their perceptions and understanding of their child, and their ability to nurture and support their child’s development.
  • Caregivers and children are best served within a “system of care” in which assessment, access to services, treatment, follow-up, and relationships with community-based services are facilitated by well-trained professional staff.

Impact of Child First

Rigorous research shows that Child First families become stronger and healthier. Results of a randomized, controlled trial demonstrated that at 12 month follow-up, Child First intervention families had strong positive outcomes:

  • Child First children were 68% less likely to have language problems and 42% less likely to have aggressive and defiant behaviors.
  • Child First mothers had 64% lower levels of depression and/or mental health problems.
  • Child First families were 39% less likely to be involved with child protective services, which was sustained at 33% at 3 year follow-up.
  • Child First families had a 98% increase in access to community services supports.
Child First Clinical Director Karen Haag

Center for Child Counseling is excited to welcome the Child First to our organization, serving vulnerable young children in Southern Palm Beach County.

Currently, the team includes:
• Karen Haag – Clinical Director
• Maria Matos – Data Specialist
• Cynthia Nicholas – Clinician
• Vanessa Gomez – Clinician
• Deidre Phillips – Care Coordinator

We are also pleased to announce that we are building capacity to serve more families! We are hiring Clinicians and Care Coordinators to serve Southern Palm Beach County.

Contact us to learn more or submit your résumé.

At Center for Child Counseling, Safari, Ltd’s Toys Are More Than Just Playthings

Kerry Jamieson Latest News

Center for Child Counseling uses Play Therapy as the foundation for most interventions used at the organization, since play is one of the most effective ways of working with children. Situations addressed at Center for Child Counseling may span several generations, with abusive or neglectful practices passed down from parent to child, over and over again.

Effectively addressing a child’s mental health often involves working with the whole family. And, when intergenerational trauma is deeply engrained, families may require specialized interventions – sometimes in clients’ homes but also in the Center for Child Counseling’s Play Therapy rooms located at offices and schools across Palm Beach County.

Center for Child Counseling’s Child First Program is specially trained to work with young clients and their families. On March 2nd, Child First at Center for Child Counseling, funded by the Children’s Services Council of Palm Beach County, expanded, with four additional teams serving Southern Palm Beach County. With this expansion, Center for Child Counseling now has offices located in Lake Worth, including a new Play Therapy room! So, the donation from Safari, Ltd. came at the perfect time to help set up that special location where children can express themselves through play.

Children, especially those who may be dysregulated or “acting out” can be especially hard on their toys and Center for Child Counseling’s playrooms see hundreds of children each month, all eager to interact with the toys. Investments in toys and supplies need to be made over and over again.

Established in 1982, Safari, Ltd. creates hand-painted learning toys for kids — from dinosaurs, to wild animals, to mythical creatures. Their detailed models are beautiful to look at, so realistic, and very durable. They help children understand the world they live in. They fuel the imagination, promote creativity, and give hours and hours of playtime fun. They are the perfect addition to the organization’s Play Therapy rooms – and are creating the words that children need to use to express their feelings, especially after traumatic experiences.

“We cannot thank Safari, Ltd. enough for their ongoing support,” says Stephanie De La Cruz, Clinical Director of Clinical Services at Center for Child Counseling. “This isn’t the first time they’ve been so generous to our agency and we’re delighted. We always say that play is a child’s language and toys are their words. These toys will help our children work through so much as they learn to express themselves and manage their feelings in positive ways.”

Center for Child Counseling’s CEO, Renee Layman, added her appreciation. “This donation helps our children and it helps us as an agency because these are critical supplies for our work – and it is a costly investment. Now they’ve been given to us – thanks to Safari’s generosity.”

The toys will bring joy and an outlet for expression to the over 3,800 children Center for Child Counseling serves each year.

 

Managing Your Child’s Coronavirus Fear

Kerry Jamieson Latest News, Uncategorized

Tips for Coping with Coronavirus and the Fallout From Media Coverage

The Coronavirus continues to dominate the news and fear is spiraling across the country. Many people, especially parents, want to find the crucial balance between complacency and panic. With many questions still unanswered, here is what we DO know, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC):

  • The virus is thought to spread mainly from person to person.
    • Between people who are in close contact with one another (often within about 6 feet)
    • Through respiratory droplets (minutely visible and invisible) produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes
    • These droplets can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby or possibly be inhaled into the lungs
  • Symptoms appear 2–14 days after exposure and include fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Some people lose their sense of taste and/or smell.
  • People are most contagious when they are already sickest, although we know that spread from asymptomatic people is possible, too.
  • There are now more than 1,1 million reported cases in the United States (and 64,000+ known deaths). These numbers will keep rising until the virus is contained or a successful treatment is launched.
  • The mortality rate is low relative to other deadly viruses like SARS (7%) and Ebola (25-90%). Coronavirus has an estimated 1% mortality rate if you take into account that mostly those showing symptoms are getting tested and therefor the number of deaths is a percentage of only those people and not a percentage of everyone who has the disease but is asymptomatic.
  • Those who have sadly passed away as a result of this outbreak are disproportionately older people or those with compromised immune systems or diseases like hypertension, cardiovascular disease, or diabetes.
  • Children are not disproportionately affected and tend to have very mild symptoms. They are far less at-risk for severe complications than adults and seniors.
  • The disease has no vaccine at the moment but can be treated by medical professionals.

How to Handle this Epidemic with Your Children

World-renowned psychotherapist Dr. Debbie Ellis and expert child therapists from the Center for Child Counseling offer the following advice: Children learn by example and are most likely to mimic your reactions to most events beyond their experience. If you panic, they’re likely to panic. Children are very intuitive. Even if you feel you’re keeping the worst from them, they are picking up your emotions, responses, and attitudes and making up their own stories to explain things. It’s better to offer information in a calm way that’s age-appropriate.

Empower your children by simply using this scary time to reinforce lifelong, healthy habits.

Hand Washing is Key

Set a good example by always insisting on washing your hands for at least 20 seconds, that’s about the same amount of time it takes to sing the “Happy Birthday to You” song twice…so use that if you think your kids will find it funny. The water doesn’t need to be scalding hot, which might discourage kids, so keep it warm and make sure to wash palms, fingers, nails, and the backs of their hands. If your child does not like to wash their hands or use hand sanitizers, make it fun for them. Give them a bucket full of soapy warm water and put some toys and cups into it (this is also a great sensory play). You can also decorate your hand sanitizer bottle with craft supplies; make it into a funny person or their favorite animal. Art is always a great family activity.

Sneeze and Cough into Your Folded Elbow

Explain to your children that they should always sneeze and cough into the fold of their elbow. This prevents germs getting on your hands which are far more likely to spread them around because we use our hands to touch objects others are also going to touch like doorknobs and shopping trolleys. If you have a young child (younger than 2) who does not understand this, always carry wipes and hand sanitizer with you. Try to keep young children’s hands out of their mouths. Instead of chewing on their fingers, they can chew on a healthy snack (frozen fruits are great).

Stay Home When Sick

Coronavirus resembles other respiratory illnesses. You should keep your children home from school (and seek medical advice) if they display any symptoms or have trouble with their breathing, especially if they are contagious with a fever, coughing, and sneezing. These guidelines apply to colds and the ’flu as well as Coronavirus.

Here are some tips for parents on managing media-fueled fear over Coronavirus:

1) Don’t Panic
Children sense our emotions, even when we try very hard to hide them; children “just know”. Many of them act out and most of them will develop anxiety from watching their anxious parents’ behaviors. Stress increases cortisol levels in the body which causes inflammation that can weaken the immune system. This is true of adults as well as children.

2) Do Educate & Communicate
Be open with your child; don’t try to hide anything for them because they will find out anyway, whether it’s from a school peer or TV. Explain that there are many microscopic germs and viruses in this world. If they are old enough to know about colds and the ‘flu, explain that Coronavirus is similar to those sicknesses. There are many fun, animated, kid-friendly videos on YouTube about germs, viruses and bacteria. These can be helpful in talking with your child.

3) Don’t Overreact with Masks and Gloves
You risk traumatizing your child and creating a ‘germophobe’ if you wear unnecessary medical equipment. It’s not only visually scary, especially to very young children, but it promotes heightened anxiety and induces stress. Overreacting only makes your children feel as if catching the disease is imminent and inevitable and ramps up fear. Remember, your anxiety perpetuates your child’s anxiety.

4) Do Moderate Your Language
Try not to use threats like: “If you don’t wash your hands, you are going to get sick!” That kind of language only increases your child’s anxiety and threats do not work. Instead, you can say something like: “Let’s wash our hands so we stay healthy!”

5) Do Use this Opportunity to Promote Healthy Habits
Make sure your child gets enough sleep, eats healthy snacks, gets enough vitamins (especially Vitamin C and D), and has limits on his/her screen time. Acknowledge the event but avoid binging on negative or frightening news stories. Often, exposure to the media only serves to exacerbate fears. Get your news from reliable sources like the CDC or the World Health Organization and not from gossip sites or social media. CLICK HERE for a recent article from the Child Mind Institute that provides additional information and practical tips for parents.

Always reassure yourself and your children that we cannot control what’s going on out in the world, but we can control our behaviors and emotions and we can focus on positive things and remain calm.

Black Ties & French Fries 2020

Kerry Jamieson Uncategorized

Center for Child Counseling’s annual gala raises thousands of dollars to help children heal from trauma.

February 24: WEST PALM BEACH, Florida – A disco-themed extravaganza was held on Saturday, February 15th, 2020 when Center for Child Counseling (CfCC) hosted its 7th annual Black Tie & French Fries gala at the Club at Mirasol in Palm Beach Gardens. Attended by 210 friends and supporters of the organization, the event raised funds to support vital programs the organization provides in the community, which includes helping children and families affected by trauma and adversity.

Highlights of the event included bottomless supplies of French fries and sweet potato fries (a signature of this fun family evening), and a fully-staffed kids’ room with games, face painting, and a magic show with elaborate balloon animals by Karl Koppertop. There was a performance of hoverboard dancing to ‘Dancing Queen’ by Kate Rundels, followed by a delicious dinner buffet. Disco dancing rounded off the evening.

The most touching point of the night came when a young client shared her story during a “Call to Heart” segment. The young woman credits the Center for Child Counseling with giving her the help she needed to heal after trauma and placement in foster care.

For the past 21 years Center for Child Counseling has been Palm Beach County’s driving force in the fight against ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) and the lifelong mental and physical health issues associated with them. Proceeds from the event and its fantastic silent auction of over 150 items (including a Trips of a Lifetime segment in partnership with AmFund, a trip in the Goodyear blimp, and a portrait session by Bradford Portraiture valued at $5,000) will help Center for Child Counseling with its direct services as well as supply the equipment and toys needed to fully implement their school-based mental health programs.

ACEs and Military Families

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We’ve all seen them (and many of us have cried a little) — those YouTube videos of little children reuniting with a returning soldier, often their mom or dad. The child leaps into their parent’s arms and clings on for dear life, tears streaming down their little face. It’s a moment of pure joy. But what happens in the hours, days, and months after those happy reunions? And, even more concerning, what goes through a child’s mind when mom or dad are first deployed? There aren’t too many uplifting online videos depicting those departing moments…because, all too often, they are very traumatic.

The United States military is an enormous operation. There are approximately 1.3 million active duty personnel serving in the U.S. military with an additional 800,000 reserve forces (as of September 2017), according to Defense Department personnel data. This means that 0.4 percent of the American population is an active military service-person. While most work at home, the U.S. has nearly 800 military bases around the world and, although deployment numbers fluctuate daily based on the needs of commanders and shifting missions, a rough estimate is that 200,000 troops are currently deployed overseas. U.S. Central Command says that between 60,000 and 70,000 U.S. troops are now in the Middle East and the Pentagon has directed about 4,500 additional troops to the region after the recent drone attack which killed Major General Qassim Suleimani, an Iranian security and intelligence commander.

Working in the military is a uniquely challenging job, a calling for many, a family tradition for others. Most members of the military come from middle-class neighborhoods, just like the original participants in the ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Kaiser Permanente in the mid-1990s. Increasingly, women are serving in high-powered or even combat roles. As a society, we acknowledge the danger and dedication this takes, which is why we often thank these brave men and women for their service when we encounter them. But are there more insidious dangers lurking at home? Military families, like all families, need to guard against ACEs. While deployment is not an ACE in itself, the circumstances it results in can be detrimental to healthy childhood development and need to be guarded against.

Sudden Loss

One aspect of the military that distinguishes it from other jobs, even dangerous ones, is the very short notice afforded military personnel when they are suddenly deployed. Typically, troops get their orders to deploy many months in advance. In times of stability, soldiers can expect to spend anywhere from three, to six, to  twelve months away. Everyone in the unit has ample time to get their ducks in a row before heading overseas. But, when urgent needs arise or sudden volatility occurs, they must be ready to leave in as little as 18 hours. That’s less than a day to cancel plans, call loved ones, rearrange commitments, and comfort young children who suddenly have to be told that mommy or daddy is going away. Birthdays, sports games, recitals, and graduations may be missed. These dates mean a great deal to children and can’t be rescheduled. These precious moments can’t be replaced and can result in feelings of apprehension, abandonment, and resentment.

Deployment does results in one key ACE, however — the loss of a parent. While the original ACE study asked about parental loss due to death or incarceration, it also asked about divorce. It’s clear that any sudden long-term separation from a parent can throw a child’s world into chaos. It may not help much to explain that, in the vast majority of deployment cases, the absent parent returns, safe and sound. Children perceive time differently. Tomorrow seems like forever away, so a deployment of a few months is almost a lifetime. Children are also very literal up to the age of about 11. If you promise to take them out for ice cream and then have to change those plans, you are “a liar”. Disappointing a young child, who likely finds it difficult to delay gratification, because of a deployment can seem like a crushing blow to them.

In fact, each stage of deployment can be fraught with anxiety and stress of different kinds.

Pre-Deployment
A deploying service-person in the family throws established routines into chaos. Children experience unexpected disruption and uncertainty. Even experienced military families find the adjustment jarring. The shock of a sudden departure of a parent can leave children feeling a kind of bereavement over the loss, which may manifest itself in sullenness, anger, violent outbursts, or refusing to talk or cooperate.

Deployment
The absence of one parent can put undue burden on the remaining parent, even in the most well-adjusted families. Deployment can bring financial and emotional deficits, placing children in the home at greater risk for adversity. In some cases, children need to move from their established home to live with grandparents or other caregivers, a dramatic disruption at a time when they crave the sense of security structure brings. While away, the military parent is at constant risk. Whether or not a child has been told that their parent may be wounded or even die, they are very intuitive and pick up on the anxiety and fear in the home. Even very young children know their routine has changed and may start to “act out”.

Post-Deployment
While disruption results when service-people deploy, it happens again when they return. This means a double dose of unsettling emotions for young brains that are still developing and vulnerable to the negative effects of toxic stress — the kind of stress caused by repeated activation of the fight, flight, or freeze reflex, which results in atypical levels of adrenaline being dumped into the body.

PTSD and Other Issues
When service personnel return home, they can bring serious challenges with them. PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) varies by war/operation but affects between 11% and 30% of service-people. Symptoms can include flashbacks, nightmares, and severe anxiety, all of which can be terrifying for a child to witness. PTSD sufferers can experience problems relating to others, too. They can have trouble showing feelings or affection, difficulty sleeping, irritability, angry outbursts, lack of concentration, and a heightened startle response (”jumpiness”). In the most extreme cases, the returning parent is barely recognizable as the same person who left, which is undoubtedly traumatic for a child.

Shannon Hawkins, Director of Community Engagement at a private health foundation that funds Center for Child Counseling’s Fighting ACEs campaign, recalls her childhood as a military kid. “Noise, or any type of unexpected sound, affected my father deeply after he returned from serving. He would jump at the slightest thing and, as a child, I remember how quiet we had to be inside the house to avoid triggering him. It was a new reality after he came back.”

Countless families report the same experiences and the children in these homes may have difficulty with:
• Fears and worries about the parent-soldier’s safety, especially if exposed to combat
• Absence/separation from the parent-Soldier, especially during lengthy deployments
• Changes in family routines, roles, and responsibilities
• Intense emotions in the family
• Changes in the relationship with the deployed and nondeployed parents
• Relocation to a different geographical area to live with a new caregiver
• Exposure to troubling media coverage, especially if the mission is in a combat zone
• Reintegration of the parent-soldier into the family

Heightened Risk Factors
It’s important to remember that one of the ACE study questions addresses mental illness (“Did you live with a household member who was depressed, mentally ill, or attempted suicide?”). With rates of depression higher among military personnel than the civilian population, this ACE is a definite risk factor for military children.

Domestic violence was another ACE identified in the original study (“Did you see or hear household members hurt or threaten to hurt each other?”). There was a 177% increase in Intimate Partner Violence within the military between 2000- 2010 at al time when national rates were decreasing. Clearly, this is another potential ACE risk factor for military children.

A third potential ACE involves substance abuse (“Did you live with someone who had a problem with drinking or using drugs?”). Studies indicate a higher prevalence of binge drinking among military personnel than the population at large.

Benefits for Military Families
As a counterpoint to some of the challenges facing military families, the military does provide benefits for its children not afforded to the everyone in the civilian population. These can be considered protective factors.
• Universal healthcare coverage
• Comprehensive/affordable daycare
• Steady employment (lack of extreme poverty/lower rates of physical neglect)
• Paid family leave for both parents
• In general, military families score higher on scales for parental education, residential stability, and positive family function

Despite the uncertainty and possible exposure to ACEs that threaten military families, the majority of them find ways to cope and manage very well. Studies reveal that most people who enlist in the military do so for positive motives including patriotism, altruism, and self-improvement. The military instills routine, discipline, and the idea of self-sacrifice. When taught appropriately, these lessons can help a child learn resilience. Remember that resilience is the ability to be flexible and thrive during times of undue stress, or the ability to rebound from adversity as a strong, healthy, more resourceful person. Children’s reactions to the stress of deployment, their coping skills, and the level of their resilience can differ depending on their age, stage of development, personality, prior life experiences, and former challenges, as well as the number and efficacy of the support systems available to them. We can all play a part in helping children thrive during their parent-soldier’s deployment.

What Can You Do?
Young children may experience feelings of abandonment or anger when a parent leaves, regardless of the reason. Some children don’t know where to turn with the big feelings they are experiencing. Others may be told to be proud or “be brave for Mommy,” which may contradict the complex sadness or anger they are naturally feeling.

Secure relationships, effective communication, critical thinking, and thorough preparation are key to successful family functioning during deployment.

Keep the Lines of Communication Open: Adults can gain insight into what children understand about their parent’s deployment by listening to what they have to say and asking them about their thoughts and feelings. Rather than avoiding talk of the absent parent, it helps children to speak freely, express their concerns, and work through their emotions. Sometimes, acknowledging a feeling or a fear can go a long way to dispelling it.

Try to Retain a Routine: As far as possible, provide security for children in military families by giving them the comfort of established routines. Children crave boundaries, which make them feel safe. Keeping to a set schedule where children know what to expect helps to minimize anxiety about the unknown, which they are naturally feeling.

Provide Regular Reassurance: When the topic of the military or war comes up in the media or at school, you should share with your child anything you know about the safety of their parent. You might say: “I know you saw on the news today that they were fighting in Tehran. Mommy isn’t anywhere near there. She is safely working in the communications office very far away from all that.”

Craft a Countdown: It may help to create a tangible way of showing that time is passing. A simple chalkboard updated daily showing the days until dad returns, for example. Or, you can find two jars and a number of marbles or pennies correlated to the number of days your loved one will be away. Put all the marbles or pennies into one jar. Each day, move a marble from the “days left” jar to the “days passed” jar, so your child can see the time diminishing and that things are moving towards reunification.

Stay Connected to the Deployed Parent: A regular connection, if possible, provides vital reassurance to a young child. These days, technology can facilitate face-to-face video calls; letters, emails, and photos also help children to stay connected.

Make a Deployment Bucket List: You can help your child craft a list of things they look forward to doing when mom or dad returns. It’s great for them to set some goals for themselves to work towards, too. For example: “By the time dad gets back, I will be able to ride my bike.”

Establish New Family Traditions: Even little tokens help maintain a sense of family in the absence of one parent. You can share memories of “funny things dad does” at the dinner table. You can make your own rituals and routines to build cohesion – the key is that you do it together and on a regular schedule.

Art Projects & Journaling: Some children draw or paint pictures and build a portfolio to share when mom or dad returns. Older children can write diary entries to share their private thoughts, although it’s important to encourage them to share openly with a trusted adult rather than keeping feelings bottled up inside. Pinterest has some great military art project ideas and ideas for Veterans Day that are suitable for kids of differing ages.

Visit a USO Center: The military offers many support sites (online and tangible) where military spouses and children can find support.

In some cases, the benefit of being raised in a military family far outweighs the potential ACEs it might bring. Michelle Brown, whose father served in the United States Air Force until she was 16, says: “The lessons I learned as a ‘military brat’ made me who I am today. There may have been some hardships, like having to make new friends after every move, but my parents also taught me coping skills. Now, I make friends easily, I am dedicated, and I’m tough. The military equipped me for life’s changes. I don’t regret a thing about growing up military.”

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