PNW Psychology Professor launches Roadmap to Resilience Podcast and Resources
Amanda Zelechoski is a professor of Psychology and director of Clinical Training at Purdue University Northwest.
Helping Professionals and Caregivers Support Children Experiencing Stress and Trauma
Today, Roadmap to Resilience: Supporting Children Experiencing Stress and Trauma announced its official website launch and release of podcast episodes, short videos, and other digital tools.
Roadmap to Resilience guides the listener through specific, trauma-informed approaches to supporting children and their families. Created by a task force of international child trauma experts, the collection of free resources provides practical, accessible, and timely digital content for all who care for kids.
Hosts, Dr. Julian Ford and Dr. Amanda Zelechoski, Professor of Psychology and Director of Clinical Training, bring decades of experience as psychologists and researchers. They’re joined by 16 diverse practitioners and scholars with expertise in the fields of child stress and trauma who share their insight, research, and strategies throughout the 16-episode audio series and 40+ short videos.
Whether you’re a mental health provider, medical or nursing professional, parent, lawyer, social worker, or just a caring member of the community, you can use these tools to advocate for and support the children around you.
Creating a Pathway Forward During Difficult Times
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, more than two-thirds of children reported having experienced at least one traumatic event before age 16. In October 2021, the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and Children’s Hospital Association declared a national emergency in child and adolescent mental health, given the predicted long-term effects of the pandemic on children’s wellbeing.
Recognizing the increased stress and trauma many children would experience, Dr. Ford convened a task force, comprised of representatives from many of the leading child trauma organizations, with a call to action:
“How can we use our expertise to help children and families cope with the direct stress and trauma of the pandemic, and the other traumas exasperated by stay-at-home orders?”
After being a guest on The Pandemic Parenting Podcast with Dr. Zelechoski, Dr. Ford suggested the Inter-Organizational Child Trauma Task Force take a similar approach. They would integrate their diverse professional backgrounds and collective experience to lay out a roadmap for various paths forward following difficult situations.
Roadmap to Resilience is the powerful result of their desire to empower professionals, caregivers, and policymakers with specialized and timely considerations and information.
The Roadmap to Resilience resources are free and available for immediate download, use, and dissemination at www.roadmaptoresilience.org.
Produced in 2021, Roadmap to Resilience is a collaboration between Pandemic Parenting and the University of Connecticut School of Medicine Center for the Treatment of Developmental Trauma Disorders, with special thanks to the Inter-Organizational Child Trauma Task Force.