When Youth Therapy Gets Stuck: Trauma, Anxiety, and Emotional Dysregulation in Children

Course overview

This 6-hour intensive training equips mental health professionals with trauma-informed assessment and intervention skills for working with children and adolescents experiencing trauma, anxiety, and emotional dysregulation. Discover how youth mental health specialists recognize the neurological and developmental impact of trauma exposure, differentiate anxiety disorders from trauma responses and ADHD, and build trust-based relationships with traumatized youth who struggle to connect with adults. Learn the practical foundations of understanding Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and their long-term impact, recognizing behavioral manifestations of trauma in academic and social settings, and applying co-regulation strategies when youth present with intense emotions and challenging behaviors. Gain clinical skills for assessing anxiety disorders using DSM-5 criteria, implementing self-management and coping skills interventions, addressing the impact of attachment disruption on the therapeutic relationship, and understanding medication considerations in youth mental health treatment. Designed for licensed mental health professionals seeking to elevate their clinical effectiveness with traumatized and anxious youth through developmentally informed, evidence-based interventions that address the unique presentations of childhood and adolescent trauma.