Adelphi University  Institute for Parenting

Putting Humpty Together Again: Working with Children with Attachment Difficulties—Emotional Dysregulation, Rage and Despair

Recent decades have dramatically changed our understanding of infancy and early childhood development. We now know that from ages 0-5, when brain development is at its most crucial phase, a child develops the foundation and capabilities on which all subsequent development builds. Infants and young children require a secure attachment to a primary caregiver and experiences that foster cognitive growth and social and emotional development. In the absence of sensitive, reliable caregiving, development of critical social, emotional, and intellectual skills, including the ability to trust, to relate to others, to empathize, have a positive sense of self and to emotionally and behaviorally regulate is compromised. Trauma and maltreatment that occurs within the context of the parent-child relationship has devastating developmental consequences. In times of anxiety or threat, infants are biologically primed to seek the protection and comfort of their caregiver. Infants feel deep confusion and fear when the parent from whom he needs to seek protection is the person who is frightening and threatening to him, thus bathing the baby in toxic stress. 

As a result, young children raised in abusive or neglectful homes, or in orphanages, have considerably different needs than children raised in stable families. Their rage, despair and emotional dysregulation are often hard to understand and manage. When foster and adoptive families, educators or therapists are unfamiliar with the impact of neglect or abuse on child development, they run the risk of further traumatizing children by not adequately addressing their tremendous needs. Through this workshop the instructor will examine the impact of abuse and neglect and suggest a paradigm to increase a child’s ability to use primary caregivers as a safe base. She will describe stress and trauma response symptoms in young children as well as explain the two most prevalent forms of attachment patterns that lead to difficult behavior in children. She will teach a paradigm and strategies that assist with helping children with attachment disturbances and aid participants in deepening their understanding of how to support caregivers of children with attachment disturbances. Participants will leave with a framework for understanding how to intervene with children who are fearfully rageful and despairing.

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About the Instructor

Julie Ribaudo, LMSW, ACSW, IMH-E (IV), is a Clinical Associate Professor at the University Of Michigan School Of Social Work. Prior to joining the School of Social Work in 2006, she had practiced for over 20 years in a wide range of community-based programs, including community mental health, child welfare, public health, Head Start and Early Head Start, education, and the juvenile court system.  As an early interventionist, she also provided support to teachers and caregivers of challenging infants, toddlers and children; and assessment and treatment of abused and/or neglected infants, toddlers and young children in foster care or adoption.  Ms. Ribaudo’s clinical work also included psychotherapy with adults to resolve issues of depression, anxiety and childhood trauma. 

Ms. Ribaudo has a Post-Graduate Certificate and Endorsement as an Infant Mental Health Therapist and Distinguished Mentor. Ms. Ribaudo continues to provide supervision and consultation to clinicians and programs working with families struggling with poverty, depression, isolation and disenfranchisement.  She is also involved in research and service delivery with the Women’s Mental Health and Infants Programs through the Department of Psychiatry at UM.

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Registration

Program begins promptly at 9:00 a.m.