Affirming YOUth receives $200,000 for SEEDS with Required Match
William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust Funds SEEDS (Social Emotional Enhancement and Development for Success) Program and WE Need Your SUPPORT To Reach More Families
Miami, FL – October 26, 2018 – Affirming YOUth Foundation, with generous support from the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust, is proud to announce funding for its Social Emotional Enhancement and Development for Success (SEEDS) Program. SEEDS targets youth and families experiencing the effects of trauma.
Trauma and the Youth Effect
Trauma among youth is a serious public health concern, as every day thousands of young people experience abuse, neglect, or other adverse events that can cause severe physical and emotional consequences and heightened risk of compromised mental health, including impaired judgment, poor problem-solving skills, and conflictual interpersonal relationships. Numerous young people will struggle in silence and not disclose that they have experienced a traumatic incident or multiple traumatic events. Oftentimes, they may not even understand that the situation they have experienced is detrimental to their well-being, as trauma can bring feelings of confusion, fear, guilt, and shame.
Others may attempt to seek help from a friend, family member, teacher, or other adults who are not equipped to help them with their needs. Young people will often exhibit emotional, physical, and/or behavioral symptoms following a traumatic event, but these symptoms can be circumvented with appropriate identification and treatment. Untreated trauma can pose significant effects on the well-being of the young person throughout the lifespan, even through adulthood, affecting physical and emotional health, education, relationships, career, family, and numerous other quality of life factors. Untreated trauma can thwart successful youth development.
Definition of Trauma
Trauma is an emotionally and/or physically distressing incident that a person can either experience or witness. A traumatic event can be an accident, illness, serious injury, assault, significant life change(s) or transitions, such as death, divorce, or youth and family violence.
How does it affect youth?
Signs of trauma by the child/adolescent include physical, emotional, and/or behavioral symptoms following the traumatic event(s). Some of these symptoms include sadness, worry, fears or phobias, nightmares, recurring memories about the trauma, feelings of guilt or self-blame, difficulty eating and/or sleeping, academic difficulties, defiance towards adults, among many other symptoms and concerns. These symptoms can be transient if the child/adolescent receives treatment; however, without the appropriate care, the effects of trauma can become chronic, affecting the young person’s ability to succeed in school and maintain positive relationships with parents, teachers, family members, and peers. Other long-term effects of trauma can include alcohol or drug use or abuse, nicotine use, obesity, or numerous other physical health problems.
I am personally very familiar with the effects of untreated trauma, as my childhood was filled with multiple traumatic events that were not addressed for many years. Both of my parents were addicted to alcohol and drugs and I experienced emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, neglect, and witnessed several incidences of both family and community violence. At a young age, I saw both of my brothers getting shot, with one of them not surviving. The image of seeing my brother lying lifeless on the side of the road will never leave my memory. In many ways, I feel I was set up for failure since my childhood years. By age 8, my father had introduced me to alcohol and marijuana. Due to the numerous stressors in my life, my education, or any opportunity to experience the normal milestones of childhood, was severely affected.
I did not receive any type of treatment and no one around me was able to identify any warning signs that I was a child in dire need of help and intervention. It was not until 2003 that I began receiving several diagnoses, as doctors attempted to put a label on the numerous symptoms that I had developed through the years of trauma I had experienced. Trauma does not just remain hidden in our memories, nor is it forgotten after years have passed. It is too big and powerful and debilitating to simply disappear. It is instead released in various ways and in different forms: Through our actions, behaviors, emotions, and through physical sensations and symptoms. I was first diagnosed with Conversion Disorder and then later with Major Depressive Disorder. It is true that I exhibited symptoms of all of these disorders, but the real underlying factor was untreated trauma.
In 2004, at age 34, I finally was able to talk about my childhood and the difficulties of my past in therapy. This period represented the greatest healing for me because the more I disclosed my pain and suffering, the greater alleviation I felt from my emotional and physical symptoms. My psychiatrist then took me off of all my medications and decided that my previous diagnoses were wrong; or at least, that my previous diagnoses were not diagnoses, but were instead symptoms of something greater. He concluded that I suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and all of my symptoms stemmed from this untreated, chronic diagnosis.
It was through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, as well as elements of spirituality that were incorporated into my treatment, and writing a book based on my childhood experiences, I Know What I Am and I Am Not What You Call Me, that I was able to gradually heal. My childhood experiences had become a part of me and were being released as emotional and physical symptoms since I did not have the adequate coping skills to release my pain in a healthy and adaptive manner. Diagnoses such as PTSD and Conversion Disorder are closely tied to emotionally traumatic experiences. The body, not just the mind, holds on to and releases trauma. In my case, it was both systems, body, and mind, that needed a healthy outlet for the trauma I was holding on to. The trauma needed to be properly identified and treated so that I could begin the recovery and healing process. Thanks to my psychiatrist and therapist, I no longer had to keep decades of pain to myself.
Trauma is often an underlying factor for many mental health concerns among youth, especially untreated trauma. Untreated trauma not only affects the individual but families as well, as the young person impacted by trauma will often develop chronic symptoms that can be present throughout adolescence and adulthood. The individual will likely display negative coping skills to manage the trauma that has been adopted in the person’s efforts to protect him/herself from any future trauma. These behaviors can then be passed on to the next generation, thus perpetuating the untreated trauma symptoms and a cycle of generational trauma.
Generational Trauma
Generational trauma occurs when the effects of trauma are passed down from an older generation (e.g., parents) to the younger generation (e.g., children). When parents suffer a significant trauma and either does not receive appropriate treatment or are otherwise unable to recover, many of the symptoms can be transferred or learned by the children. Oftentimes, the learned behaviors can be subtle, such as a parent tightly holding the child’s hand in a busy shopping mall, or more evident, such as a parent warning a child that they should avoid all public restrooms. Although the child has often never directly experienced the trauma, the child can still develop trauma symptoms through these learned behaviors.
What should we do to address trauma in urban contexts
that will benefit youth and families?
SEEDS (Social Emotional Enhancement and Development for Success) is a theory-driven, evidence-based intervention that utilizes the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), treatment approach to bolster key family, youth and school processes related to youth mental health and positive youth development. SEEDS (1) intervenes with urban minority adolescents across inner-city ecological domains; (2) addresses multiple levels (school, family and community) in order to target youth mental health difficulties; and (3) provides opportunities for increasing youth social problem-solving and life skills.
In urban settings, it is often helpful to address issues with trauma by targeting parents, youth, and educators in schools, community centers, boys and girls clubs, or other areas where awareness and education can be provided. It is important for parents and teachers to receive education on the warning signs that a young person may have experienced trauma and they must understand that timely interventions are critical for the success of treatment. Parents, youth, and teachers can be provided with anonymous helplines or other private contacts where they can inquire about treatment options for the child/adolescent.
It is critical to prevent youth cases of untreated trauma by educating parents and teachers about the warning signs that a young person may be experiencing trauma. SEEDS is an effective intervention that can successfully treat trauma symptoms and associated concerns among youth. With comprehensive mental health care and supportive resources, young people can recover from trauma and restore quality of life and a promising future.
We have partnered with FIU-Education Effect to implement the SEEDS program to youth and parents in an effort to expand their social and emotional skills by managing their emotions and achieving positive goals. With generous support fro, the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust, we are able to offer these services without cost to the families who can benefit the most. However, we need your help to match their $200,000 investment and reach as many families as possible.
Call to Action
Thursday, November 15th, 2018, is Give Miami Day. This is your opportunity to partner with us in expanding our capacity to serve youth and families by making a donation to the Affirming YOUth Foundation, Inc.
Or Affirm a YOUth today at:
Our goal is to raise an additional $200,000 to bring the total investment to $400,000, to provide services to over one-hundred youth and families over a two-year period. Your generosity will ensure that another child, another mother, and/or another father do not have to continue suffering from the effects of untreated trauma.
Together we will make this happen.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Spikes, M.Ed.
Founder and Executive Director of the Affirming YOUth Foundation, Inc.