MMJ 3631
Sevita's In Living Color of trauma event sheds light on mental health and awareness
STATESBORO, GA—Sevita organization presents a workshop to educate adults and children facing trauma for the first time on the GSU campus.
The five-hour event was held Saturday in the Russell Union. Registration was available in person and on Eventbrite. Roughly 16 families attended.
While children were briefly separated from their parents in a separate room---lessons were taught about creating a voice for the voiceless.
The workshop focused on teaching and training parents to work with children of trauma. Three speakers spoke on persuasive development disorders, IEP education, depression, and anxiety.
Sevita’s family intervention team works toward helping adoptive families understand the treatment and psycho-diagnosis.
“Our goal is to help stabilize homes and reduce crisis, Sevita Supervisor Marrionet Humes said. Children’s behaviors are their voices—so when you have a child acting out there telling you something. We provide interventions that can help the family get to a point where certain behaviors are manageable.”
All keynote speakers' passion for helping others understand and manage skills to move forward productively involved setting boundaries. Licensed Professional Counselor Janet Scott mentioned how important stopping, reassessing, and trying to gain an understanding of a child's behavior without punitive or disciplinary parenting is vital.
It's no secret the brain develops differently when exposed to trauma whether it's sexual, physical, or emotional. Creating a sense of psychological safety ensures the parental guardian can be trusted.
Another discussion revolved around parent rights--- which educated parents on the proper steps to take when their child is diagnosed as autistic or disabled. Individual Education Program (IEP) is developed under the law to ensure the teaching of specialized instruction.
"I've noticed so many times parents have no idea what their rights are, they just let the IEP team decide where to place their kids--and that's wrong Special Ed Teacher Debra Mitchell said, parental guardians need to know and understand their rights by asking questions, it can make a difference."
In Georgia alone, the Sevita organization helps roughly 65-75 families a year. The next workshop will be on Sep.24, in the Atlanta metro area.