Newsletter - Fall 2015
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We are hosting two major events this fall. Our annual conference, "Understanding the Role of Trauma in the Roots of Violent Behavior" will be held on October 23. We have put together a wonderful lineup of speakers for an informative and engaging conference as well as a strong panel of experts for a lively discussion.

As part of our training series, in early December we are offering a training with Beth Mayer, LICSW, Executive Director, Multi-Service Eating Disorders Association. The training is entitled "In the Eye of the Storm: Eating Disorders and Trauma."

Details for these events are outlined below. We are also sharing news about two staff members who will be working in new positions at Riverside Trauma Center.

We hope to see you at our events.

Best regards,

Larry Berkowitz, EdD
Director, Riverside Trauma Center
In this Issue
5th Annual Conference
Conference

Riverside Trauma Center's 5th Annual Conference

Understanding the Role of Trauma in the Roots of Violent Behavior

Cosponsored by the Massachusetts Department of  Public Health's Suicide Prevention Program
  
Registration Deadline 10/14/15
Only 20 Seats Left!   
Friday, October 23, 2015    
8:30 am-4:15 pm (Registration starts at 8 am)
The Verve, Crowne Plaza, Natick, MA 
1360 Worcester Street (Rte. 9) 
 
 
Mary Cheyne, PsyD
Joanna Bridger, LICSW
Rachel Yehuda, PhD

Keynote Address:
"Can the Effects of Trauma Be Transmitted Intergenerationally?"    
Rachel Yehuda, PhD, is a Professor of Psychiatry and the Director of the Division of Traumatic Stress Studies at the Icahn School of Medicine who has focused on research in Trauma and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) for over 25 years.  

Other Presentations:
"Intimate Partner Violence: Behavioral, Social and Biological Implications"
Mary Cheyne, PsyD, is a forensic psychologist and threat assessment and m anagement professional with over 14 years of experience. 

"Violence Through a Trauma-Informed Lens: Examples
from Riverside Trauma Center's Work"  
Joanna Bridger, LICSW, Clinical Services Director of Riverside Trauma Center.

There will also be a panel to discuss different perspectives on trauma and violence. Panel participants: Saroeum Phoung, Founder and CEO, Point One North Consulting, masterful circle keeper, teacher, and spirit leader; The Honorable Mark Newman, First Justice of Essex County Juvenile Court; Linda T. Sanford, LICSW , Visiting Professor of Trauma Informed Social Work and Co-Director of the Military Counseling Certificate Program at Wheelock College, and specialist in the treatment of trauma in private practice; and S. Atyia Martin, D.L.P., MPS-HSL, EMT-B , Chief Resilience Officer, City of Boston.
 
Cost: Registration cost is $139 per person or $125 per person for groups of 4 or more. $75 per person for Riverside Community Care employees. 
 
Continuing Education: Applications for 5.5 hours of continuing education credits have been submitted for Social Workers, LMHCs, LMFTs, and Nurses. Please contact Jenny Huynh (jhuynh@riversidecc.org) for the status of the CE accreditation. This training is approved for 5.5 hours of continuing education for Psychologists. 

Registration: Pre-registration is required. For more information and to register, visit our online registration page. Or if you prefer, you can find more details on riversidetraumacenter.org and print out and complete a hard copy of the registration form. 
 
Please share this information with others who are interested in these topics.

Riverside Community Care is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor education for Psychologists. Riverside Community Care maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
Intersection
The Intersection of Violence and Trauma
How Epigenetics Comes Into Play
The theory of epigenetic inheritance suggests that environmental factors can alter an individual's genetic makeup. Contrary to conventional, long-held scientific belief that inheritance occurs only by way of the genetic code passed from parent to offspring, epigenetics asserts that environmental factors may "switch on" or "switch off" existing genetic code. As a result, parents' experience of trauma and the associated symptoms can be passed down to their children without the children ever directly experiencing a traumatic event. It would appear then, that trauma can be passed down to the next generation alongside inherited traits such as eye color and high blood pressure. Rather than a change in the DNA structure, however, epigenetics refers to a change in the way that genes are expressed.
 
Dr. Rachel Yehuda, a leading researcher in the field of epigenetic inheritance, conducted a study of pregnant women who fled Manhattan on 9/11. Despite not having directly experienced this traumatic event, the babies were born with the same levels of the stress hormone cortisol in their systems as their mothers. Dr. Yehuda revealed similar findings in her studies of children of Holocaust survivors. Other traumas such as war, terrorism, and famine have also been found to cause epigenetic changes in future generations.
 
On October 23, the Riverside Trauma Center will hold its 5th annual conference, featuring Dr. Yehuda as the keynote speaker. The full program will focus on the relationship between violence and trauma, and we will hear from several experts on their related perspectives. For more information and to register, please visit www.riversidetraumacenter5.eventbrite.com. 
Eating
"In the Eye of the Storm: Eating Disorders and Trauma"
Register for this Upcoming Training
Friday, December 11, 2015, 9:30 am-12:30 pm
Saint Michael Parish 
90 Concord Road, Bedford, MA
Registration Deadline: December 8, 2015
 Register Today!

Training Description:
This training will help clinicians enhance their understanding of how eating disorders and trauma intersect and the best treatment strategies to move a client toward a healthier life.

Speaker: Beth Mayer, LICSW
Beth Mayer, LICSW, the Executive Director of the Multi-Service Eating Disorders Association, has been working in the eating disorders field for 30 years. She is nationally recognized for her clinical work with eating disorders and has spoken at conferences around the country.

Cost:  The registration cost is $50 per person or $35 per Riverside Community Care employee.

Continuing Education: Applications for 3 hours of continuing education credits have been submitted for Social Workers, LMHCs, LMFTs, and Nurses. Please contact Jenny Huynh
(jhuynh@riversidecc.org) for the status of the CE accreditation. This training is approved for 3 hours of continuing education for Psychologists. 
   
Registration:  Pre-registration is required. Complete the registration online at www.eatingdisordersandtrauma.eventbrite.com or, if you prefer, visit www.riversidetraumacenter.org
to print out and complete a hard copy of the registration form. 
 
Registration starts at 9 am. Refunds will not be available for this training. Please share this information with others who are interested in these topics.    
   

Riverside Community Care is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor education for Psychologists. Riverside Community Care maintains responsibility for this program and its content. 
TraumaSuicide
Trauma and Suicide 
More Connected than Previously Thought
Riverside Trauma Center has been providing trauma response and suicide prevention and postvention services since its inception. While we have always recognized the overlap between trauma and suicide, there is a growing recognition the two phenomena -- which have traditionally been approached as largely separate areas in terms of assessment, treatment, study, etc. -- are more connected and interwoven than people working in either field had previously acknowledged. Riverside Trauma Center is moving towards integrating our work in these fields to reflect this emerging knowledge.
 
Perhaps the clearest way in which they intersect is that each is a significant risk factor for the other. There is strong evidence that trauma increases the risk of suicide as well as the risk of other conditions and behaviors likely to increase risk for suicide. The clearest evidence of this is the CDC's Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study,* which found that the relationship between suicide attempts and adverse childhood experiences is "of an order of magnitude that is rarely observed in epidemiology and public health data." Eighty percent (80%) of suicide attempts during childhood/adolescence were found to be attributable to ACEs. Childhood and adolescent suicide attempts increased 51-fold, or 5,100% with seven or more adverse childhood experiences.

 
*"Adverse Childhood Experiences," Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/acestudy  
Staff
Meet Our New Staff Members 
Coordinator, Trauma and Loss Counseling service
Marlene sees clients as part of Riverside Trauma Center's Trauma and Loss Counseling program, and is helping to develop the practice to increase community awareness of the program and generate referrals. The specialty practice serves people who are looking for therapeutic support following an acute trauma such as a car accident, assault, injury or witnessing the injury of another person as well as loss due to suicide, illness, or accident. Contact Marlene by calling 781-879-9184 or sending her an email at mkenney@riversidecc.org.

Nanci Ginty Butler, LICSW  Nanci
Senior Clinician -- Coordinator for Program Development
Nanci has been a Trauma Responder at Riverside Trauma Center for broad-scale experiences like the Boston Marathon bombing, and for more localized events such as suicide deaths in school. At Riverside Trauma Center, Nanci provides trainings and is responsible for program development and trauma response work. Contact Nanci by calling 617-780-5449 or sending her an email at nginty@riversidecc.org.