I came to know the Attachment and Trauma Network thru one of their facebook groups. They helped my family realize that we weren't alone in our struggle with early childhood trauma. Eventually, I had the distinct pleasure of being a member of the board of directors. I see and hear everyday about the impact our organization is making in the lives of families across the country. Thank you ATN for being the great people that you are, and trusting me to be a part of your leadership team.
My personal story of childhood trauma brought me to ATN via a Google search! At that time, I was in the process of healing (which began at the age of 61) and what I found at their website helped me to understand the effects of my own developmental trauma and disrupted attachment. When I realized ATN was providing the kinds of support for parents and teachers that would have helped me as a child, I was sold! I asked if I could volunteer and began blogging, then conducted workshops at the first two Creating Trauma Sensitive Schools conferences, and am now serving on the Board of Directors. ATN literally changed the course of my life and provided an avenue to pursue my passion to help hurting children. My work as an author (BRAVE: A Personal Story of Healing Childhood Trauma & Jeannie's BRAVE Childhood: Behavior and Healing through the Lens of Attachment and Trauma), speaker, and teacher educator have been enriched and informed by this organization, but my life has been transformed by their support. It is an organization built on the importance of relationship as a key to healing and in supporting those working with traumatized children They definitely "walked the talk" in my life!
My wife credits ATN with helping save her family. ATN gave her family the resources and network they needed to better support her sister, who had experienced a lot of developmental trauma as a baby before being adopted from China. That trauma manifested in reactive attachment disorder and other developmental challenges.
The effects of her attachment issues and developmental trauma put a strain on the family and caused problems at school (their methods triggered her issues and caused disruptive behaviors). Thanks to ATN, my sister-in-law graduated high school with honors and is an inspiring young adult representing team USA for the second time in an upcoming international swim competition. ATN gave the family the support and insights they needed to find the right environment for their daughter/sister ... and she was able to THRIVE!
ATN helps hundreds of families and has recently built out an incredible teacher training program (and annual conference with 1200+ attendees) to take their message into the schools. Thanks to ATN's efforts, children like my sister-in-law will be better supported by their local school systems and avoid some of the challenges she had to face earlier in her life. That's why I'm volunteering my time as a board member: to help ATN grow and thrive, so they can reach thousands more families and teachers establish supportive, loving environments for children affected by trauma.
Long before I was ever on the Board of ATN I was served by it as a parent of a child who suffered from attachment and trauma issues. Adopted at 12 months from overseas we were lost as to help our child heal from her dark past. Even at the tender age of 4 the early months of her life and the lost time she had with a caring parent/caregiver had left their mark on her and if it was not for ATN we would probably still be floundering around out there trying to figure out what was wrong and how to help her. ATN's wealth of support and knowledge was the network we needed on this long journey to heal our daughter. I am happy to say she is a very compassionate and caring child now and it is in large part to what we learned through ATN.
I have been a Board Member of the Attachment & Trauma Network for several years. I am a mental health therapist who specializes in working with traumatized children. I have been extremely impressed with all of the volunteer parents and other therapists who have devoted their lives to supporting families as they help their children heal. ATN is a wonderful organization of caring parents across the United States who are always willing to lend a hand to others in need.
When I found ATN more than a decade ago, they were a lifesaver! To meet and have support from other parents who were raising traumatized children was invaluable. They "got it" and helped me find resources and learn to be a better therapeutic parent. So I started volunteering. ATN has grown through the dedicated efforts of stressed out, overwhelmed parents who do not want other families to have to struggle as hard as they have struggled to find help and hope. There's still so much more to do. The medical community now recognizes early childhood trauma as a public health epidemic, something those of us who have been parenting abused and neglected children already know intimately. Keep up the good work ATN -- the world needs you!