I got this email from Colette Ryan who gave permission for me to share it here.
She asks the most important questions that are honestly what this group is all about. If you have ideas, resources, links, suggestions or just want to chime in on this conversation, please do!
She wrote:
In the service I work within we are making slow progress (but it is still progress) in working towards having a much more trauma informed organisation.
Anyways, we also have the Supporting Parents, Healthy Children programme, whereby we ask all of the clients accessing our services if they have children. From here we will ask about how the parents are doing and what supports could we put in place for the family? However we don't complete trauma histories with our clients (there are some pockets that do), but as a service overall, we don't (yet).
Therefore reading your sharing as a parent - pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding etc., and the potential 'triggering' and then impact on you (and others) in their appreciation of parenting as best they can.... anyways what I am saying is I now believe we are missing a whole lot of point with our programme.
Copmia (children of parents with mental illness) as it was originally known, is looking at the difficulties of parenting if you have depression, or a bi-polar illness. But not parenting as a person who has a trauma history (because we don't really acknowledge that yet).
Like you, I too have been going on about ACE's public awareness campaigns for everyone.
Can you point me in any directions for specific parenting resources that I could utilise in assisting me with convincing the 'powers that be' that we need to be embracing this work so we can maximise the benefits to all in the Supporting Parents Healthy Children programme.
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