Trauma Psychology Training

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When young people have reliable access to a known, trusted person in a primary care setting, this can ease the fear of talking and enable them to open up more readily. Mental health professionals working in these settings can quickly form positive relationships with children under their care. Children and young people who exhibit symptoms of PTSD and C-PTSD can benefit from the 12-stage protocol without onward referral to a specialist service being required, meaning CATT can be implemented and begin to work effectively. This can speed up the young person or child’s access to the therapy they need without having to sit on waiting lists whilst things get worse.

To find out more about the different settings that CATT can be used read the full article here: https://traumapsychology.co.uk/how-is-catt-used-in-different-settings/

Does CATT Really Work? Yes and there's research to prove it!

In 2002, Carlotta, the founder of CATT was invited to travel to Rwanda by a local Rwandan non-government organisation (NGO) that worked with communities affected by genocide. They were looking for a model of trauma treatment that was suitable for the children and adolescents affected by the recent events, as well as the adults. Delivering CATT training in this way was a catalyst for the formalisation of the 12-step holistic model that we see today.

The experience of using CATT to help young people with trauma in Rwanda demonstrated that:
- CATT worked well for cases of acute PTSD and reduced the intensity of the symptoms associated with the trauma
- CATT was extremely adaptable and flexible enough to treat young people from different cultures without any dip in effectiveness (Allard, Bates and Skaarbrevik 2016; Edwards 2011; Raby 2010; Raby and Edwards 2011; Rolington 2014)
- The true success of using the CATT protocol in Rwanda led to the model being used in other areas of conflict, war or natural disaster.

To read further info on the applications of CATT in Gaza and Uganda plus find the links to the detailed research visit the article on our website here: https://traumapsychology.co.uk/does-catt-really-work-the-research-evidence/

What is Complex PTSD? Complex PTSD (C-PTSD) usually develops when children have experienced traumatic events at key developmental stages in their early life.

For a complex PTSD diagnosis, as mentioned in our previous post on PTSD, a person must meet the the DSM-5 or 3-point ICD-11 criteria for PTSD and they must also be experiencing persistent difficulties in the following;

Emotional Dysregulation Difficulties
- Emotional responses not typical for a given situation
- Persistent low mood, sadness or depression
- Irregular anger responses, either inhibited or explosive

Negative Self Concept
- Deep feelings of worthlessness
- Persistent feelings of guilt or shame
- Feeling flawed or damaged
- Feeling hopeless, powerless or defeated.
- Difficulties In Relationships

Difficulty with connecting closely with others
- Avoiding relationships or being too “full on” in relationships
- Trust issues
- Feeling betrayed or hurt easily

Working with children and young people, knowing how to recognise the signs of PTSD and C-PTSD can help you to spot when a child might need specialised treatment. Often treating PTSD or C-PTSD first can result in a resolution of other symptoms.

For more information on the presentation of PTSD and C-PTSD in children read our article here: https://traumapsychology.co.uk/complex-ptsd-vs-ptsd-whats-the-difference/

A Trauma Therapy That Works: CATT provides a child-centred therapy developed specifically to engage young minds and their communicative techniques of play and creativity. This helps them to process their traumatic memories and resolve them safely and speedily.

CATT can be applied in many different settings such as:
- Primary Care
- Specialist Trauma Services
- Services for Looked After Children & Young People
- Services for Young Offenders
- Private Practice & Adult Settings

Over the coming weeks we'll be talking more about the application of CATT in each of these settings but you can head over to the Articles section of our website for more information right now https://traumapsychology.co.uk/how-is-catt-used-in-different-settings/.

PTSD in Children: As a qualified mental health professional, you’ll already be familiar with the term Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) .

According to the DSM-5 the four-point diagnostic criteria for PTSD includes;

1: Intrusive thoughts – including memories, flashbacks, feelings and nightmares.

2: Avoidance – including avoidance of certain people, places, circumstances and memories.

3: Physiological changes – including hypervigilance, emotional dysregulation, poor concentration and angry outbursts.

4: Mood and behaviour changes – including low mood, loss of interest in activities, poor self-worth and increase in negative emotions.

(The ICD-11, more commonly used in Europe, has a slightly different 3-point diagnostic criteria, omitting the mood and behaviour changes.)

In children, PTSD presents in the following ways:
- Intrusive memories
- Nightmares
- Flashbacks
- Avoidance
- Tantrums & angry outbursts
- Loss of interest
- Low mood and increased negative feelings
- Hypervigilance
- Heigtened startle response

Specialist therapies designed for PTSD specifically, such as CATT, can help bring marked results and lead to a full recovery, especially when treatment begins promptly. To read our full article about the differences between PTSD & C-PTSD click here: https://traumapsychology.co.uk/complex-ptsd-vs-ptsd-whats-the-difference/

Did you know that children can be affected by PTSD just like adults? Only recently have researchers and academics discovered that children and adolescents can be susceptible to these kinds of mental health difficulties.

To support children in dealing with trauma, many adult trauma therapies and interventions have been adapted for children and young people. Treating complex trauma and PTSD in children promptly can have a huge impact on their recovery and their ability to live a full and healthy life into adulthood.

When adapting a therapy approach created for a different client age group, however, there’s a risk that it’s not completely fit for purpose. A bit like using Google translate – what you put in never quite comes out with exactly the same meaning on the other side!

That’s where CATT comes in, designed with a particular client group in mind, it is proven to have greater success and better outcomes and gives professionals a wider range of tools and techniques to dig into to support clients.

Comment below if you'd like to know more or have a look at the Trauma Psychology website for further info and details on how to book onto the next course:
https://traumapsychology.co.uk/

Congratulations to our September course delegates who all received their CATT certification! We love to see the creations you make during the training! To discover more about CATT and find the next course dates visit our website: www.traumapsychology.co.uk

We are excited to announce our 2023 course dates have been released!

We will be running courses online as well as face to face in different regions of the country.

See https://traumapsychology.co.uk/catt-training/ for our course listings