Children who are having difficulty processing trauma or loss can now turn to the Trauma and Grief Center for Youth at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).
"The center offers a collaborative team of researchers and clinicians who are dedicated to relieving the suffering of traumatized and grieving youth," said Julie B. Kaplow, Ph.D., the center's director and associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at UTHealth Medical School.
The center includes evidence-based assessment and interventions for children and adolescents, conducts research on adaptive and maladaptive responses to trauma and loss, and provides training and professional education.
The clinic, funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, treats youth ages 7 to 17 who have experienced trauma and loss, including the death of a loved one.
"Our research has shown that reactions to the death of a loved one, such as grief, and reactions to other types of traumatic events, such as post-traumatic stress, are distinct and often call for different treatment elements," Kaplow said. "We also see more complications when children are grappling with 'traumatic' deaths and struggling with both types of reactions. We feel strongly that while some children who have experienced loss or trauma may be in need of intervention, other children may do just fine without treatment, underscoring the need for a thorough, evidence-based assessment that can identify those youth at most risk," Kaplow said.
It is not uncommon for grieving or traumatized children to, at least temporarily, lose interest in daily activities, have difficulty sleeping, have concerns about separating from caregivers and/or have some difficulties in school. However, Kaplow and her team have identified specific symptoms and associated risk factors that may signal the need for treatment, and they have incorporated this information into their standard assessment battery used within the Trauma and Grief Center.
Research at the center includes a multi-site study focusing on developing, field-testing and validating new assessment measures of post-traumatic stress and grief in youth in Detroit, Ann Arbor, Mich., Houston and Uganda; an evaluation of the center's primary intervention called Trauma and Grief Component Therapy; and a multi-site study examining the effectiveness of the center's assessment proficiency training with psychology, psychiatry and social work trainees.
Kaplow and her team are also dedicated to assisting those youth who are anticipating the death of a loved one by partnering with the Palliative Care Department at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
"Our research has shown that children who experience 'anticipated' deaths, such as deaths due to cancer, often have even higher levels of distress than youth who experience the sudden death of a loved one. This may be due to living with the chronic and stressful ambiguity of not knowing exactly when their loved one will die and watching the progressive deterioration of their loved one's physical state," Kaplow said.
"I became fascinated with the resiliency of children and I often wondered how they were coping with these tragic events and what protective factors were most instrumental in helping them," said Kaplow of her early interest in the field. "One of our earliest findings was that those children who held comforting spiritual beliefs, such as viewing the deceased person as their guardian angel, had the lowest levels of anxiety and depression. We're taught to avoid spirituality or religion in both academia and in most psychosocial interventions, but with matters of life and death, there is no way to get around it."
Kaplow said their research has also shown that parent-child communication is an essential factor in how a child adapts after a trauma or a loss.
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