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According to a recent publication, teen suicides in Connecticut spiked this summer, with seven teen suicides reported since Aug. 1, bringing the total number of child suicides to 12 so far in 2024. Data shows that only about half of the children who die by suicide had access mental health services.
The psychological distress associated with suicidal ideation is truly life threatening and our children need help. Concerningly, 53% of the children seen by LifeBridge this past year had been exposed to six or more traumatic events (e.g., witnessing violence, experiencing verbal, physical, or sexual abuse, death or separation from a primary caregiver, not enough food to eat, or bullying).
Our services are critical because our team of mental health professionals support these children and their families to address the social, psychological, and emotional issues caused by chronic exposure to traumatic events or adversity.
In addition to providing direct service, LifeBridge has also launched Connecticut’s first and only Trauma-Informed Community of Practice (TI-CoP). To better serve our community, we have begun integrating trauma-informed principles and practices into the DNA of our organization and our team to strengthen our service delivery and outcomes. The TI-CoP was developed to support local agencies that desire to do the same.
Our TI-CoP kick-off meeting at the end of September had over 100 people from various sectors in attendance, a clear demonstration of the desire to understand the impact of prolonged adversity and exposure to traumatic events, and to learn protective and promotive factors that help to reduce the adverse impact.
There is a collective recognition that not only can trauma not be ignored in our various roles, but that adopting a trauma-informed approach is part of doing our jobs well.
Join us,
Edith
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