Chapters 11 &12

 Chapter 11 talks about uncovering the traumatic memory. I have a 12 year old girl who is struggling with severe behaviors. She is unable to control her emotions and the simplest things trigger her into rage that cannot be controlled. This child has a history of trauma. Her father was physically violent to her mother, and abused methamphetamine. This child was angry at me when the father's rights were terminated. Since the last time I've worked with this family, she has been in two psychiatric medical institutes for children (PMIC) two times. She is currently in a psychiatric medical holding place awaiting a placement at another PMIC. I've tried to relay to several professionals that her lower primitive brain is taking over. Her pre-frontal cortex and her upper brain is not functioning. She also had a cyst drained of 200 ml of fluid from her pre-frontal cortex area. I don't believe that placing her in another PMIC facility will do her any good unless the treatment plan is different than before. I believe that we need to work through this child's traumatic memories and help her heal. I continue to question why we continue to use the same approach to each child as if they will meet our molds and then be healed. No one I work with have an understanding that in order to help children and "their behaviors" we must retrain the brain and strengthen the brains ability to function at best capacity. Instead everyone wants to give ridiculous diagnoses, harsh medications, and some weekly therapy and some weekly BHIS. I also don't think other professionals understand that just because a child wasn't beat or that the traumatic event wasn't specific to the child doesn't mean that it doesn't have an impact on that child. 

Chapter 12 talks about the strain of remembering the event. I would be certain that the child I'm working with could describe at least something in her childhood that she recalls regarding the domestic violence and memories with her father. She is explosive with her behaviors right now that no one wants to try and have normal conversations. They want to sedate her and judge the family. I know her mother and other people struggle with how to discipline this child. There is a fine line with rewarding the negative behavior, and responding to this child with love and patience in order for her to calm down. I also believe that professionals end up not wanting to get to the root of this child's problems in the past because they end up not liking her as a person as a result of her behaviors. 

Chapter 12 also talks about the impact war had on soldiers. I found myself thinking why do we even have wars. It doesn't do our country any good and we end up repairing the damages. This takes away what progress needs to be done in our own country.  I also found interesting how veterans were questioned immediately after the war and then later one. It was documented that their memories were different than there were immediately following their war experience. It supports that our brains will adjust to help balance our lives out again. At the same time, it is like our brain is sabotaging us. Not allowing us to remember so that those events can be processed. I have a passion working with Veterans. However, the VA is underfunded and understaffed and the help provided is limited. As we go through this class and our other class I continue to think how many macro changes that need to be made.