Roadmap to Resilience

According to data from U.S. crime reports, about 1 in 5 homicide victims are killed by an intimate partner, whether that’s a current or former spouse or dating partner. In the wake of these tragic deaths are the victims’ loved ones -- including children. Dr. Bianca Harper shares her expertise in supporting these child and adolescent survivors of intimate partner homicide.

Learn more about our guest expert on this episode: Dr. Bianca Harper

Explore resources mentioned in this episode:

Preventing Intimate Partner Violence - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Victims of Crime Act

Arizona Child and Adolescent Survivor Initiative (ACASI)

In this episode, we explore how best to support survivors of sexual abuse. Along with our guest experts, we discuss how to provide an environment in which children (and adults) feel safe to disclose the abuse, how caregivers and clinicians should respond, and what the recovery process looks like for survivors and their families as they create a path forward.

Learn more about our guest experts on this episode:

Dr. Sandra Baita

Dr. Michael Salter

Dr. Viola Vaughan-Eden

When we experience trauma, our minds and bodies find ways to cope. What might look on the outside like spacing out, rapid mood or behavior changes, or an intense imaginary world, can actually be the child psychologically “disconnecting” from what’s happening or has happened to them. We call this “dissociation.” Clinical child psychologist Dr. Joyanna Silberg joins us for this episode. We discuss why dissociation takes place, what are early signs of it, and what we as parents and professionals who care for children can do to help.

Learn more about our guest expert on this episode: Dr. Joyanna Silberg

Through the intersecting lenses of advocacy, mental health care, medical care, and criminology, five guest experts help us explore trauma prevention strategies that make it possible to not only treat the after-effects of trauma but to help protect children from experiencing trauma from the earliest days of their lives all the way into adolescence.

Learn more about our guest experts on this episode:

Dr. Archana Basu

Dr. David Corwin

Dr. Michael Salter

Yehudis Stokes

Karen Zilberstein

Resilience is the main subject of this audio series, but what is it exactly? There are actually a lot of different definitions, and the concept of resilience is a bit controversial among experts in mental health and trauma spaces. In many ways, resilience is just as complex as trauma. So, in this episode, we’ll hear from several experts on their opinions about children’s and families’ resilience, what it is, and where it comes from.

Learn more about our guest experts on this episode:

Dr. Apryl Alexander

Dr. Claudette Antuña

Dr. Sandra Baita

Dr. Archana Basu

Dr. Bianca Harper

Dr. Brooks Keeshin

Dr. Sandra Rafman

Karen Zilberstein

Dr. Julian Ford and Dr. Amanda Zelechoski speak with several child trauma experts to help understand, “what is trauma?” and how does it differ from everyday stress? We discuss the ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) framework, the impact of early childhood trauma on brain development, and how we can begin to identify past traumas through a child’s current behavior.

Learn more about our guest experts on this episode:

Dr. Archana Basu

Dr. Sandra Baita

Dr. David Corwin

Yehudis Stokes

Join experts in the field of child stress and trauma as they delve into research-based strategies for building resilience in children of all ages. Your hosts, Dr. Julian Ford and Dr. Amanda Zelechoski, along with guest experts explore how children and families successfully face and overcome adversity, and how helping professionals can support and empower this resilience. Together, they'll paint a holistic picture of what a roadmap to resilience can look like for children experiencing stress and trauma.

Dr. Ford and Dr. Zelechoski bring decades of experience as psychologists and researchers to make these strategies available for all who care for children. Whether you’re a mental health provider, parent, lawyer, social worker, or caregiver, you can use these tools to help the children you support step from difficulty into strength.

Roadmap to Resilience is a collaboration between Pandemic Parenting and the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, with special thanks to the Inter-Organizational Child Trauma Task Force. 

Roadmap to Resilience is produced by Dr. Julian Ford, Dr. Amanda Zelechoski, Carmen Vincent, and Victoria Bruick, with strategic support from Jennifer Valentine and promotional support from the Center for the Treatment of Developmental Trauma Disorders. Many thanks to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Child Traumatic Stress Network for their financial support for this project.

Learn more at www.roadmaptoresilience.org.