The Legacy

“This is an unprecedented time in our nation’s history, and the call to heal the untreated trauma of our children and communities has never been so loud,” says Alice Forrester, PhD, Executive Director at Clifford Beers Clinic.

This long-simmering problem continues to be addressed by the Clinic not just within the confines of our therapists’ rooms but also in the professional arena. Clifford Beers Clinic is now preparing for its fifth clinical conference. Entitled Healing The Generations: Child & Family Trauma Conference, this two-day conference (October 3-4, 2013, with select pre-conference presentations slated for October 2nd) will be held at the Mystic Marriott and is currently being crafted to emphasize a trauma-informed approach to care that highlights the family’s role in healing as well as the role integrated care plays in the treatment of chronic stress.

Author, journalist and co-founder of The Brown Angel Center (Charlotte, NC) Patrice Gains will open the Conference. Ms. Gains combines her journey from heroin user/ abused woman to award-winning journalist/loving mother with her professional training to encourage others through speeches, writings and workshops.

In addition to hosting many gifted presenters, the Conference will offer many interactive workshops that will provide attendees with new tools, cutting-edge clinical approaches, and education updates to supplement current healing strategies. For more information on the Conference, visit the event website at http://www.childtraumacon.com/

Building strength in childrenand families since 1913

Healing the GenerationsChild & Family Trauma ConFerenCe

An 11-year-old girl has been sexually assaulted by her uncle; by all accounts, this is horrendous.

Equally horrendous is what can happen in the aftermath of that assault. The crime has been reported, the lawyers now want to talk to this girl, as do the police, the doctors, and a full complement of well-intentioned social workers. While each has plans to help this child, each separate discussion she has will force her to relive the incident and can re-traumatize her. Enter the South Central Child Advocacy Center (SCCAC) at Long Wharf. Comprised of a partnership among Clifford Beers Clinic, Rape Crisis Center of Milford, Yale Department of Pediatrics and Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital, the SCCAC is designed so that the interview and examination of the victim is as streamlined as possible -- and happens only once. All interested parties gather at the victim’s convenience within the SCCAC to collect the information they need from the child who now only has to tell her grueling tale one time.

“It all starts with a disclosure,” says Caroline Diemar, the Clifford Beers Clinic’s CAC Coordinator. “The police or DCF learn either directly or indirectly (like a teacher seeing bruising), and then the child is referred to us.”

Taking place in a child-friendly environment with lively artwork, toys, books, and comfortable couches, the entire process happens within two hours. While the parents meet with a forensic interviewer, the child gets to play in a nearby child-friendly room with a YNHH Child Life Specialist who gently explains what will happen over the course of the following hours. The child is also given a tour of the different rooms: the interview room, complete with video cameras where the factual questions will be asked; the adjacent observation room, where law enforcement typically gathers during the interview, and; the medical examination room.

Most of the children seen at the SCCAC are between ages 3-13, and slightly more than half are girls. Not all cases require a medical exam, but one is always offered. Says

The South Central Child Advocacy Center: An Exceptional Partnership with a Powerful Mission

Summer 2013

(Continued on next page)

Caroline Diemar, the Clinic’s SCCAC Coordinator, pictured in the SCCAC lobby at Long Wharf

Diemar, “Even in cases where there is no skin-to-skin contact, a medical exam can reassure a child and her family that her body is okay. That’s always a fear.” The entire medical exam is external thanks to something called a colposcope that has superior magnification capability and allows for a less intrusive procedure.

Another facet of the SCCAC is the Bridging Program. Spearheaded by Clifford Beers Clinic Board of Directors member and YNHH physician Andrea Asnes, MD, the Bridging Program allows a child to receive a series of therapy sessions from a CBC therapist on site as opposed to traveling to another building for care. This is in keeping with the SCCAC theme that everything be as streamlined as possible for the victim.

“I am extremely proud of the work we do and of the strong relationships we have with our community partners in the SCCAC,” says Dr. Asnes. “Our CAC has achieved exemplary multidisciplinary community collaboration, and because of that we can deliver an excellent standard of care to sexually abused children in our region.”

The SCCAC saw 418 victims last year. No doubt the partnership is valuable.

“We know the multidisciplinary approach is working,” says Diemar. “We are very fortunate to have such wonderful resources and really value this community collaboration.”

LOOK WHAT YOU’VE DONE! THE STEP-DOWN PROGRAM AT CLIFFORD BEERS CLINIC

At CBC, adolescents who have acute behavior problems are often referred for Intensive Outpatient Therapy, or “IOP.” As the name suggests, the program is intensive. IOP participants are typically at the Clinic between 9 and 15 hours each week for an eight-week period. During that time various therapies are used – creative arts, drama, art, group – and the participants often form quite an attachment to the Clinic and each other. It works. “We’ve seen a lot of success with our IOP kids,” says Erin Cushing, CBC Associate Director. “We know they become much more stable at home, less belligerent, better behaved in school.” When asked to share details, Cushing is particularly pleased to report how IOP gives kids the chance to develop life skills. “If the IOP group does well during the week, we have a Friday reward. We cook something. The kids pick it – pizza, tacos. During reward they work together while they’re learning math and measurement. Sometimes one or two kids will lead the group. We’ve seen leadership skills crop up where we never expected them to!”

With these kinds of connections and progressions, CBC learned quickly that

for some IOP clients discharge can be difficult. Discharge severs many IOP clients from what they consider a strong, intimate, family-like dynamic.

This is where you, our friends, became so important. Because of your support, the Clinic was able to respond to this need with The Step-Down Program. Funded entirely by your donations, the Step-Down Program works like this: youth discharged from IOP have the option of returning to Clifford Beers Clinic once a week for an hour to transition from IOP to life outside the Clinic including sports, activities and family.

“Step-Down allows our IOP kids to reconnect to their outside world and slowly move away from the Clinic,” says Cushing. “It allows us to promote and mentor skills to be used outside IOP yet allows the kids to maintain a sense of community with the Clinic.”

The Step-Down Program at Clifford Beers Clinic: another example of how valuable your support of CBC truly is.

Meet CBC clinician Eric Fabricant, LCSW. Eric has been with CBC since early 2011 when he joined the Clinic as part of the Community Support Team that was formed to address an issue in the community – problem sexual behavior among children and teens. Eric is part

of the CBC response to that problem, and a more unique element of his work is that Eric delivers a large amount of therapeutic services in the homes of the at-risk children and families he serves.

Says Eric, “There is a lot of support and advocacy for home-based treatment. It’s shown to work since the work is done in the environment where the family will be once we leave. It is crucial to identify family stressors and strengths, enhance family strengths to address agreed upon family goals, and empower the family to achieve sustainable change. It’s about empowerment, self-determination, identifying natural family supports, and our families making strong connections to appropriate community-based resources.”

When asked about his clinical successes at CBC, Eric is quick to highlight family reunification, stabilization and permanency planning. “With effective use of the wraparound approach in treatment we’re able to support families in a number of different areas in their lives to address the issues that will give them opportunity for an overall experience of an improved functional family system.”

The value of Eric’s work is evident, as is the fact that he executes with families on a daily basis the Clinic’s mission of promoting healthy and resilient lives for children and families.

South Central Child Advocacy Center (continued from page 1)

STAFF SHORTS

ERIC FABRICANT

Erin CushingCBC Associate Director

Upcoming Events

October 2-4, 20135th Annual Healing The Generations Conference, Mystic, CT November 14, 2013Builders of Hope Breakfast, New Haven, CT November 2013Amity Club Wine Tasting, New Haven, CT Check THE NEW CLIFFORD BEERS CLINIC WEBSITE for more details on these events as updates become available. For that matter, go exploring!!! The new website -- with the same address, www.cliffordbeers.org -- launched in June 2013 and is full of new and updated information about what’s happening at the Clinic, new programs, success stories, and more.

H E L P H E A L I N G H O P E

HOPE NOTESWhat We KnoW that Can help and heal You and Yours

In its new and ongoing series Hope Notes, Clifford Beers Clinic looks to share with you ways to improve your life and the lives of those around you based on its expertise in mental health and trauma-informed care.

In this first edition, Hope Notes responds to local, national and world events by offering to you ways to discuss painful or disturbing experiences with your children, grandchildren, and other young people in your lives. Below, seven strategies for you:

#1: Keep things age appropriate. Little children should have nearly no media exposure and very little information. Older children can handle more and should be encouraged to explore the circumstances in the meaningful ways discussed below. Be prepared to learn they have a lot of info before even talking with you, and that some info could be wrong.

#2: Find out what your child already knows. Before telling your son about a traumatic experience, ask what he already knows about it. “What have you heard about XYZ?” you might ask. Knowing what your child knows will help you determine which details to include—and what confusions need to be cleared up.

#3: Focus on resilience. A feeling of safety can be developed by discussing how people pull together in the face of trauma and how our leaders take steps to prevent future occurrences. Seize a teachable moment – bad things happen, but we become wiser and better able to protect ourselves.

#4: Speak calmly. Your emotional delivery of information will cause a child to absorb your emotional state and completely overshadow the substance of what you are saying. Stay calm and measured. A child who lives with a resilient parent tends to show confidence and faith in the face of adversity.

#5: Let your child “fill in the blanks.” You don’t need to include every detail. Kids use their imagination to fill in the blanks—so unless they imagine something that causes them anxiety, there’s no reason to correct them. Respect their feelings and ideas. Encourage them to form their own opinions.

#6: Explain safety in logical, concrete terms. For example, we can’t offer our kids a logical explanation for why terrorism occurs, but we can reassure them that we’ve taken logical steps to prevent future attacks. Use specific examples, e.g., remind the child that she took off her shoes at the airport safety check-in so that we can all be sure harmful things don’t get on airplanes.

#7: Help children take constructive action. Children typically learn the most by doing. One of the most effective ways to teach your child resilience is through volunteering. By taking constructive action —working with a group to help others or raising money—kids learn the healing role of empathy and social responsibility.

Clifford Beers ClinicBoard of Directors

Louis Stone, PresidentKaren DuBois-Walton, PhD, Vice President

Stephen H. Kovel, SecretaryWilliam T. Kosturko, Treasurer

Andrea G. Asnes, MDWilliam S. Colwell, Esq.

Stephanie S. Farber, PhDBeverly Hodgson, Esq.

Steven IngleseBillie H. Ladd

Millie LegenhausenRichard Leibiger

Roger P. ParisiThomas Sansone, Esq.

Dana SchwartzRichard Sussman, PhD

Dorothy VentriglioTina C. Weiner

Thank You, Jimmy Miller!

Jimmy Miller and the Friends of Jimmy Miller group have long befriended the children of Greater New Haven. That friendship has translated into meaningful support of Clifford Beers Clinic.

Continuing this tradition of support, in December 2012 Clifford Beers Clinic was thrilled to be presented with a check for $25,000 from Friends of Jimmy Miller. “Friends of Jimmy Miller is a wonderful ally of Clifford Beers Clinic, and we just couldn’t be more grateful for the endless generosity and support,” says Alice M. Forrester, PhD, Executive Director, Clifford Beers Clinic. “We take their faith in our work very seriously, and I can assure Friends of Jimmy Miller and all Clinic supporters that we work hard every day to earn that faith.”

Clifford Beers Clinic welcomes all manner of support -- donations, cars, estate bequests, gifts of stock, etc. For more information on donating to CBC, contact Kitty Champlin, Director of Development at 203 777-8648 ext. 246 or visit www.cliffordbeers.org.

Marco Rumbin (l) and Jimmy Miller (r) with Clinic Executive Director Dr. Alice M. Forrester in the Edwards Street lobby, December 2012.

H E L P H E A L I N G H O P E

Second, in caring for these children we want to grow the role played by the family in the child’s treatment. It’s not enough to address a child’s stress and help him heal from a traumatic event -- that child is part of a family that might also have undergone a trauma and needs help. The family needs to learn, too, how to heal, how to come together, how to move forward.

Lastly, in caring for children and families, we are going to embrace health care reform and chart a course toward true integrated care. This kind of care – care that recognizes mental health is not a stand-alone discipline – is what our families want and need. Just like people are made of physical, mental and social elements, the treatment of people needs to include all of these things. We are creating a model of care that allows children and families to have a place where their physical and mental health needs are not seen as separate . . . where social and physical meet . . . where mental health merges with social well being . . . where treatment is, in a word, integrated. We are certain we are getting this right, and with your continued support we envision a place – a place like a community center but known as an Integrated Care Center – where we can deliver this type of care. We look forward to working with you to make this vision a reality. For updates on the progress of this plan, be sure to visit www.cliffordbeers.org.

Alice Forrester, PhDExecutive Director

Friends:

The last century has been marvelous. It has been filled with pioneering moments, cutting-edge programs, and at all times the focus has been this: at the Clinic we respond to what children and families in our community need.

One thing we’ve heard often from our families is that the web of health care is difficult, hard to navigate, unclear and, at times, exhausting because only certain doctors do this or certain providers do that. Well, we’ve been listening, and we’ve been listening through a filter called health care reform. The aim of health care reform is confirming what our families have been telling us. It has for too long been too complicated and maybe even outright discouraging to get the necessary care and treatment. This reform is a pivotal moment, and it’s a moment we want to seize at the Clinic so that we can start the next century of care the right way with a three-fold approach. First, make no mistake. We will continue to address toxic stress in children and families – toxic stress meaning a child reacts so terribly to an event like loss of a parent or community violence that the stress physically manifests itself in that child. It makes him sick, makes it difficult for him to function, and causes negative behavior.

The Clifford W. Beers Guidance Clinic, Inc.

To reach Clifford Beers Clinic(203) 772-1270

24 hour emergency hotline: Dial 2-1-1

The Clifford Beers Clinic mission is to provide accessible community-based mental health services and advocacy that promote healthy and resilient lives for children and families.

The Next 100 Years: Will You Join Us?

Clinic Locations93 Edwards Street, New Haven, CT 06511 5 Science Park, New Haven, CT 06511

377 Main Street, West Haven, CT 06516 652 Boston Post Road, Ste. 3, Guilford, CT 06437

11 Meetinghouse Lane, Woodbridge, CT 06525

HELPHEALING

HOPE

Unsure what to give that special person? Want to make a difference in the life of a child? Please consider a gift to the Clifford Beers Clinic in honor of or in memory of someone special. A card acknowledging your gift will be sent to the recipient.

To make a donation online, visit our website at cliffordbeers.org or search for our profile at givegreater.org. Donate with confidence!

Consider a Gift In Honor or In Memory of a Loved One!