I am often asked, “What’s art therapy?” and over the years I have developed a one-sentence response: “It uses the creative process as the therapeutic medium, and the making of things is just as important as the product”. This is merely an opening line to a conversation about arts therapy and one that I have had since I decided to study arts therapy back in 1996. I very quickly learnt that many people had either never heard of arts therapy or had but wanted to understand its purpose and benefits. Being an arts therapist to me means believing in the creative process to promote healing, growth and other possibilities for individuals, families and communities. All of this happens through the positive therapeutic relationship built between therapist and participant(s), but creativity and arts adds another important dimension. People have said to me over the years, “I’m not creative or I can’t draw”, which appears as a block to their ability to use arts therapy or make art. I believe everyone is creative in different ways – it is a matter of discovering and rediscovering one’s own creativity – and my view has not changed over the years. Many think of “the arts” as meaning fine arts, yet daily we utilise creative strategies to solve a wide range of problems, issues and challenges in our lives. It is the creative thinking that I tap into as an arts therapist to support individuals in activating, exploring and understanding themselves and their experiences at a deeper level.

Australian and New Zealand Arts Therapy Association (ANZATA) explains arts therapy as:“Arts

therapy uses creative processes, including art-making, drama and dance/movement within a therapeutic relationship to improve and enhance physical, emotional and mental wellbeing. Arts therapy can be offered to people of all ages and abilities and embraces a variety of psychotherapy theoretical frameworks. The emphasis is on the process of creating and making meaning rather than on the end product. This type of therapy can be practised with individuals and with groups, families and communities. A registered arts therapist has completed a minimum of a two-year master’s level program and focuses on developing a confidential therapeutic relationship with clear boundaries and intentions.”

For me, the advantages of arts therapy are significant and dramatic. My 15 years of working as an arts therapist with people who have unresolved traumatic experiences has taught me how externalising difficult thoughts and feelings through art-making can be a safer and more integrating experience. Seeing, exploring and changing imagery related to challenging experiences can allow for deeper clarity of issues, identification of emotional blocks and personal conflicts. As the creator, participants are in control and empowered in their own healing and change-making. I see my role as guiding and supporting their journey. In sessions, I often see that the unexplainable, unexplored, unspeakable experiences people carry become tolerable, articulated and integrated. The experience of arts therapy is often a positive, confidence-building and stress-reducing experience for people that creates personal growth through new possibilities so that the future has the potential to be different.

Being an arts therapist has been an amazingly rich experience full of personal and professional

growth. I have the honour of bearing witness to others’ growth and healing through creativity every day. The power

of a safe, nurturing connection informed by a trauma lens and response framework is invaluable in my work as an arts therapist. Yet, it is the creative process and products which speak more than a thousand words and give me strength and peace to sit with the people sharing the most horrendous and heart-breaking stories day in and day out. To find out more information on Arts Therapy visit www.anzata.org

—Mary Utter Arts Therapist/Consultant, ACT Group

Mary’s BioMary Utter is a registered Art Therapist in Australia, New Zealand (AThR) and the United States of America (ATR). Having worked in Australia, USA and Samoa for 15 years Mary has a broad range of experience. The primary focus of Mary’s work has been as a trauma specialist with children, young people, adults and families from a wide variety of cultures and communities. Mary is known for her exceptional skills in engaging vulnerable clients through the therapeutic process and supporting the professionals involved through reflective practice to achieve meaningful change. Given Mary’s experience of working with children and young people in out-of-home care, family conflict and family violence, education settings and the refugee experience, she brings valuable experience to her current role as Art Therapist/Consultant at Australian Childhood Trauma Group.

The Artwork for this issue of ACTUAL was Created by Pitcha Makin’ Fellaz (article on page11)

What is Arts Therapy? What

is the work of an Arts Therapist?

“I have the honour of bearing witness to

others’ growth and healing through

creativity every day. ”

ACTUAL—A u s t r a l i a n C h i l d h o o d Tr a u m a G r o u p

Issue 05

April—June 2015Outcomes

Associated With

Unsupportive Emotion

Socialisation

Education First Youth

Foyers change lives

Trauma, Brain

Development

& School

MacKillop Family

Services—foster care

& trauma informed

practice

Pitcha Makin’

Fellaz

Complexity in

kinship care:

Baptcare’s research

and experiencesContributors

Mary Utter

Shane McLeod

Che Stockley

MacKillop Family Services

Australian Childhood

Trauma Group Training

& Events Calendar

Laura Kraus

Deborah Morris

Rachel Breman

Steve Bentley

Pitcha Makin Fellaz

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Amanda* is a foster carer with MacKillop Family Services (MacKillop) who is currently providing care for three children in MacKillop’s “Home-Based Care House”. The Home-Based Care House is an innovative model where the care provided is intended to replicate a family home, with a single volunteer foster carer, a consistent respite carer and other ongoing support staff. The model aims to provide home-like stability for children and young people who would otherwise be cared for in residential care due to the range and level of their needs. Home-Based Care House carers are highly skilled and receive specialist support to work with young people with more intensive needs.

MacKillop provides out-of-home care in Victoria (including three Home-Based Care Houses), New South Wales and Western Australia. In WA we have developed the Sibling Sanctuary house designed to keep sibling groups together when they enter care. Other services provided across the organisation include support to families, disability services, refugee services, education support and support for former residents. MacKillop has implemented

Adam Phillips, the British Psychoanalyst, wrote a paper titled the ‘Magical Art of a Desperate Person’. It presented his thoughts on child tantrums and adult interventions. His premise was that the reason parents send their children to their rooms when they are ‘misbehaving’ is that they cannot bear the pain or distress of the child therefore they attempt to disengage by sending the child off to their room or threatening them with some sort of deprivation. The argument of the parent in support of such an intervention is that the child usually comes out of their room ‘calm’. Whilst this may be so what has the child learnt about adults? There is a risk that what they have learnt is that adults do not want to know them when they are feeling distressed or overwhelmed. If we extrapolate this premise to include how organisations or indeed society deal with anybody who is not ‘toeing the line’ we find more examples of intolerance to ‘bear the pain’ of others. We see this in how we manage Australia’s Aborig-inal and Torre Strait Islander peoples, asylum seekers, disadvantaged people, those that are different and those that question the values and beliefs of powerful people. We see it in the way some parliamentarians, debate and talk to each other across state and federal houses of parliament. It is my belief that the measure of a society is in its ability to bear the pain of those who lack the capacity or power to do so on their own. We do this by ensuring we build the ca-pacity in individuals for self determination, including children, rather than use our power to intimidate or harm.

Gregory Nicolau—CEO

Ed

ito

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MacKillop Family Services—foster care & trauma

informed practice

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the Sanctuary model of care, which is a trauma-informed method for creating a culture of hope and innovation for the children, young people, the families we work with and our staff. In MacKillop’s view, a therapeutic approach to care, such as the Sanctuary model, is an essential first step to better protect children and young people.

Amanda lives with and cares for three children. Brook is 14 years old, Caden is 11 years old and Drew is 9 years old. Each of the children has experienced complex trauma and has high care needs. In addition, all children have experienced a number of placement breakdowns before their placement in the Home-Based Care House.

Amanda started working with MacKillop as a residential care worker in 2013. As a staff member, Amanda undertook MacKillop’s three-day Sanctuary training. Amanda’s manager recognised her warm and nurturing a p p r o a c h a n d experience working with vulnerable children and young people and asked if she would consider becoming a volunteer in the Home-Based Care House.

Amanda undertook the rigorous process of becoming a foster carer, which includes the mandatory Shared Stories Shared Lives three-day training course and the Step by Step assessment process. Step by Step includes four interviews to discuss competencies, ability to work as part of a team, ability to promote the positive development of children and young people in care and provide a safe environment that is free of abuse. As well

as training and assessment Amanda, and other potential foster carers, undergo national and international police checks, Working With Children Check, health and independent referee checks.

In MacKillop’s view, Amanda provides an exceptional level of care and commitment to the children in her care. For example, when Drew came into Amanda’s care he was displaying challenging, destructive and violent behaviours. He also experienced a number of phobias and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. In a previous placement Drew would regularly re-enact the violence and trauma he experienced injuring his foster carer, the carer’s children and Drew’s own younger sister. Drew also caused serious property damage

to a carer’s home.To support Drew,

MacKil lop staff, informed by the Sanctuary framework, led a group of specialist practitioners that included the Department of Human Ser v ices ’ (DHS) Principal Practitioner and staff from Berry Street’s Take Two team. The group

developed an Integrated Behaviour Management Plan which focused on structure, routine and predictability. In addition, MacKillop staff worked with Drew’s school to ensure a consistent therapeutic approach by all the adults in his life.

When Amanda volunteered to work with the children in the Home-Based Care House, she met with Drew and they immediately connected. Amanda actively worked with Drew to provide reassurance that they would have safe boundaries. Drew had

“The group developed an Integrated Behaviour

Management Plan which focused on structure, routine

and predictability. ”

experienced many years of carers and professionals approaching with caution and fear whereas Amanda approached Drew with playfulness and humour.

At different times, Drew has pushed Amanda away in an attempt to test Amanda’s commitment. Each time this has occurred, Amanda has responded with patience, playfulness and empathy.

Drew has now lived in the Home-Based Care House with Amanda for twelve months. Drew has learnt to form safe relationships with caring adults and now trusts and seeks out boundaries and routine from them. Property damage and violence are rare in the home.

To further support Amanda’s role as carer she is engaged in ongoing skill development and works closely with a therapeutic team including a Sanctuary-trained MacKillop case manager, and external therapists. Amanda is further supported to undertake reflective practice, attend training and test new approaches to supporting vulnerable children and young people.

The Home-Based Care House model reinforced by MacKillop’s implementation of the Sanctuary model improves outcomes for children and young people in our care. MacKillop’s organisation-wide commitment to becoming a trauma-informed organisation and a focus on therapeutic care is modelled across all our services.

Have you thought about becoming a foster carer but haven’t taken the first step? Thousands of children need safe homes, so we’re asking that you stop thinking and take the leap. Contact us today to discuss whether foster caring is for you.

Phone 1300 791-677 or visit mackillop.org.au/fostercare — Shane McLeod, A Manager Of Home Care— Che Stockley, Senior Policy Officer— MacKillop Family Services* All names used in this piece have been changed.

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As children mature they require enhanced skills to be able to understand, express and regulate emotions, in order to adapt to a progressively complex social landscape. The learning of these skills has been termed emotion socialisation, and parents have been identified as a primary influence in the socialisation of a child’s experiences with emotions. Parents can utilise supportive or unsupportive socialisation strategies in response to their children’s emotions. Parental behaviours that support children’s emotional understanding are associated with greater emotional competence, and include encouraging emotion expression and focusing on problem-solving. Unsupportive parental responses to children’s negative affect include being dismissive, minimising, criticising and punishing of emotional experience.

It has been proposed that the supportive and unsupportive parental emotion socialisation strategies utilised by parents serve to either validate or invalidate their children’s emotional experience, respectively. Validation of emotions expresses that the responses of another person are reasonable or sensible in the given context, and allows children to process emotions and use this information to problem-solve. In contrast, an invalidating pattern of response communicates to the child that their

Outcomes Associated With

Unsupportive Emotion

Socialisation

experience is not correct, flawed, or otherwise not valid. Invalidation may lead to children suppressing or avoiding emotions, or not accepting emotions as “signals” to change their environment or thinking.

Research has linked parental invalidating and unsupportive emotion socialisation strategies with emotional and behavioural problems. Emotion socialisation – particularly in relation to a child’s negative emotions – appears to have an influence beyond childhood, with unsupportive strategies related to emotion dysregulation and higher levels of adolescent emotional problems.

Adolescence brings with it a host of novel challenges and stressors, and the heightened emotional vulnerability that is implicit in the adolescence period has implications for mental health, with adolescence a high-risk period for the emergence of psychological disorders such as depression and substance abuse. This may make adolescents with a history of emotional invalidation particularly vulnerable to mental health issues. When difficult emotions arise, an adolescent’s lack of ability to effectively pro c e s s t h e s e feelings – because of their experience of unsupportive and invalidating parental reactions to their emotions – may lead to the adolescent avoiding or suppressing their emotions. Avoidance or suppression of emotions may then further prevent adolescents from reflecting upon their emotional experiences and developing an organised and proactive approach for dealing with stressors and associated negative emotions based on those reflections. Their lack of reflection could make adaptive decision-making very difficult in these contexts, and an inability to reflect on these emotions may result in an absence of problem-solving and essentially staying “stuck” in negative situations. Researchers have postulated that being “stuck” with negative emotions in situations without adequate coping skills may then lead to maladaptive

avoidant coping strategies such as substance use being utilised to manage their emotional states.

The implications of the findings are that clinicians should assess for reflection skills (i.e. level of ability to reflect on feelings) in youth. In cases where an adolescent does not have effective self-reflection skills, it might be necessary to promote developmental changes that are necessary for the adolescent to benefit from subsequent therapeutic interventions. For example, more time may need to be spent on emotional education for those who have experienced invalidating emotion socialisation experiences as a child, in order to aid emotion processing and self-reflection.

School or community-based preventative interventions should ideally start in childhood with those identified as at-risk, and serve to equip children with the ability to identify, reflect on and cope with negative emotions in adaptive

ways, with the aim of altering the trajectory to psychopathology. During the adolescent period, parents who have previously invalidated their children’s emotions can become defensive in response to their children’s growing critical thinking ability,

meaning that reflection on thoughts and emotions may again be punished instead of reinforced. This highlights the ongoing importance of utilising a family systems approach, and the potential need to involve parents in the therapeutic process with young people, especially if a toxic family environment or negative parenting strategies are contributing to or maintaining an adolescent’s problem behaviours. Introducing a parental component with an emphasis on communication skills may be especially valuable to shift the dynamic away from an invalidating style of parental response to children’s negative emotions.

— Laura Kraus ACT Group,Counsellor/Consultant

“Parents can utilise supportive or unsupport-ive socialisation strategies

in response to their children’s emotions.”

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The Education First Youth Foyers are aimed at young people who are without family support and unable to live at home, but who are keen to remain in education. In exchange for supported accommodation on a TAFE campus, the young person agrees to study for up to two years.

Run by the Brotherhood of St Laurence and Hanover Welfare Services and financed by the Victorian Government, the first Education First Youth Foyer opened at Holmesglen TAFE, in Mt Waverley, in 2013. Home to 40 disadvantaged young

Education First Youth Foyers change lives

people aged between 16 and 25 years old, it was the first model of its kind linking secure affordable accommodation to training, employment, health and wellbeing services and social participation. The First Youth Foyer is also staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The second Foyer opened in August 2014 year at Kangan TAFE in Broadmeadows. A third is due to open at Goulburn Ovens TAFE, in Shepparton, this year.

The Brotherhood’s Executive Director Tony Nicholson said the best thing society could do for highly disadvantaged young people was to enable them to become educated so that they could build a good life for themselves through being employed. “The great thing about the Youth Foyer approach is that it recognises that the accommodation and welfare assistance offered to them must be shaped by this objective,” Mr Nicholson said.

“More than 4000 young Victorians experience homelessness on any given night. Without support, they are at risk of experiencing long-term homelessness and unemployment. We know that with the right support and an important focus on education and employment, we can ensure these young people can have a bright future.”

Hanover’s Chief Executive Tony Keenan said the Foyers were cutting edge social welfare policy “and we know it works”. Independent evaluations of Youth Foyers operating in the United Kingdom showed that 75 per cent of young people exited Foyers successfully engaged in further education, employment or both.

“The Foyers enable local young people access to education, and the support they need to develop skills, become employed and build productive lives,” Mr Kennan said. “The Education First Youth Foyers are changing the way services are delivered. This is a major reform that puts learning and skills as the key pathway out of homelessness and disadvantage for young people.”

All students in the Foyers complete a Certificate in Independence. Rather than the young people talking about their “disadvantage” and their

problems, staff work with them to help build their confidence and reach their aspirations.

Mr. Nicholson said the concept was the first of its kind in Victoria and offered

an entirely new approach to assisting young people experiencing homelessness. “Education First Youth Foyers are premised on the idea that the best thing we can do for these young people is to get them educated so that they will be able to build a good life for themselves by having a job. This is the big reforming idea driving the provision of high quality student style accommodation while they undertake studies.”

Mr Keenan said the Foyers were a major reform that put learning and skills as the key pathway out of homelessness and disadvantage. “Already, it is changing lives. We know the Foyers will help many young people who are without family support and are disengaged from education to develop skills, become employed and build productive and good lives for themselves,” he said.

Sixteen-year-old Kangan Youth Foyer resident Kayla said that living at the site had completely changed her life. “I want to be a doctor,” she said. “Here, I have my own room. I can study both for Year 11 and complete my Certificate III in Retail Supervision. I’ve got a part-time job now. And I have made some great friends. The Foyer has changed my life and given me so much hope again.”

For more information on Education Youth Foyers visit: www.hanover.org.au/youth-foyer

— Deborah Morris Brotherhood of St Laurence, Communications Manager

“The Foyers enable local young people access to education, and the support they need to

develop skills, become employed and build productive lives.”

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For example, issues concerning the placement for either the child or the carer were identified for

almost two thirds (63%) of all cases in this study during the initial screening process, as identified during the Part A Assessment. Placement issues may include low-level issues (for example, minor health issues) through to high-level issues that contribute to complexity (such as risk-taking behaviours, significant mental health issues) for either the child or carer in the context of the placement. Once the placement was established, issues concerning the child or the carer were identified in eight out of ten (80%) of all cases in the study.

For the children in the study, overall, the most common placement issues related to significant behavioural issues, including physical and verbal aggression towards others (25%) followed by developmental delays (14%), physical health issues (12%) and significant school issues (11%). Of the cases where an issue was identified for the children after the placement was established (88), over eight in ten (83%) were reported as having a “medium or high” impact on the placement. Half (50%) of the children who attended primary or secondary school experienced poor educational outcomes (44 out of 88); that is, they were not achieving academically and/or experienced learning difficulties. One in six children (15%) were reported as being socially isolated from connections such as their friends, family, school and/or their community. Most children had other siblings in care (67%).

In terms of the carers, overall, conflict with the birth parents (77%), followed by financial stress (52%) and concerns over access/fear of reunification (15%) were the most common issues that were reported during the placement. Of the

In October 2014, the research paper entitled “Peeling back the layers of kinship care in Victoria” was published and launched by the Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare. This research was commissioned by three Victorian kinship service providers (Baptcare, OzChild and Anchor which were partners in this research). These providers have identified increasing complexity in statutory kinship placements and are concerned about the adequacy of capacity of the existing kinship care service model in Victoria to properly address the level of complexity. For the purpose of the study, “complexity” is a measure of substantial issues that are likely to make the placement particularly challenging. The measure of complexity may include any one, or a combination of, issues relating to the child, carer or family. They include substantial problems in the domains of health, emotional disturbance, social interaction, familial tensions and/or conflict and financial difficulties.

Baptcare, OzChild and Anchor proposed this research to understand more about how complex issues were impacting children and families in

Complexity in kinship care:

Baptcare’s research and experiences

kinship care. The aim of this research was to explore the range and impact of the complexity surrounding statutory kinship care placements for kinship clients from three organisations, Baptcare, OzChild and Anchor. Based on their experience supporting children and families within kinship placements, these organisations were of the impression that many placements are more complex than is initially identified during the placement assessment process. The research also aimed to identify indicators of placement complexity that might act as “red flags” at the time of referral to indicate that the placement would benefit from more intensive and/or therapeutic supports than are normally provided.

One hundred and thirty children and their carers in statutory kinship care in Victoria were randomly selected to participate in this study from Baptcare (50), OzChild (50) and Anchor (30) who were active during the period March 2011-March 2013.

At a point in time this sample represents 18% of the current number of all state-funded kinship placements supported by a community service agency in Victoria.

The research involved secondary analysis on pre-existing service data, with practitioners extracting de-identified data taken from case notes and included a range of demographic, placement, child and carer variables. The majority of these placements had a duration of over two years.

This research revealed substantial breadth and intensity of complexity among kinship care arrangements. The evidence indicates that the needs of the children and carers are more complex than has been previously recognised in the current kinship service model.

“The measure of complex-ity may include any one,

or a combination of, issues relating to the

child, carer or family.”

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cases where an issue was identified for the carers after the placement had been established (89), two thirds (67%) were reported as having a “medium to high impact” on the placement. The majority of carers in this study were grandparents (63%) followed by an aunt/uncle (19%). Only one-third of all carers in the study carers were employed (33%) and half were in financial stress (that is, reliant upon income support and/or were in debt).

Over two-thirds (70%) of carers and half (49%) of children had some indication of complexity. This suggests that the current funding model, based as it is on the presumption that most placements only require a low level of support, is inadequate to provide sufficient support to these kinship care families.

Given that the majority of children in out-of-home care are currently residing in a kinship care arrangement, it is no longer acceptable to make broad assumptions that a familial relationship is enough, in and of itself, to fully meet the needs of children and young people in the out-of-home care systems. Children and young people in the out-of-home care system have inevitably experienced trauma, grief and loss, which impacts on all areas of their life and long-term outcomes. The needs of carers and their issues impact significantly on the outcomes of these children and therefore their needs must also be considered. Until we better understand

these complexities within kinship care placements and develop appropriate responses to them, we run the risk of failing to meet the needs of half of the children and young people who are currently unable to live at home with their parents.

In response to some of the themes highlighted by the research, Baptcare has considered options for providing additional support to kinship carers, children and young people in placements as well as kinship care program staff. Two innovative projects have been funded to manage the complexity inherent in kinship placements. The first project was a partnership with the Australian Childhood Trauma Group’s Bouncing Back project. Kinship (and foster) carers were trained in using the principles (theory) of rebound therapy. Through the use of trampolines with children and training,

support and utilising group supervision, carers learnt and developed strategies to assist the children in regulating their behaviours, process feelings and engage in physical activity.

Project findings included that both children and carers actively engaged in Rebound; carers learnt how to better respond to behaviours and support the children to regulate behaviours;

there were positive impacts on placement stability with low-level financial and time investment by the agency and the carers; kinship carers enjoyed the cross program approach including

“ Children and young people in the out-of-

home care system have inevitably experienced trauma, grief and loss,

which impacts on all areas of their life and long-

term outcomes.”

kinship and foster carers, who typically have separate support and educational opportunities.

More recently, Baptcare has funded a project co-ordinator position to provide support around responding to case complexity and introducing therapeutic and trauma-informed approaches to the work of the agency. The project role is complementary to the work of the kinship care practitioners. Work within the kinship program to date has included the provision of education sessions to kinship carers and staff; facilitating kinship carer group discussions; providing secondary consultation and reflective practice sessions in relation to complex cases; direct work with carers in conjunction with case managers; introducing therapeutic group programs for children and young people in placements and the development of a trauma screening tool for new referrals to the program.

Baptcare is committed to advocating for increased recognition of the complex needs of kinship placements and highlighting that additional support and resourcing is needed to ensure positive outcomes for the children and young people in out-of-home care in Victoria. The dual approach of commissioning research to validate these issues, as well as the provision of additional services to meet unmet needs, has represented a small step in the right direction.

A full copy of the research report titled “Peeling back the layers of kinship care in Victoria,”, and the policy briefing paper is available to download at:www.baptcare.org.au/advocacy/research/Pages/Research.aspx

—Rachel Breman Principal Researcher, Baptcare

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although it can be chaotic, the child can cope. In a school, their techniques for coping appear to others as difficult or challenging behaviours; for example, a child who has learnt throughout his life that the accepted normal response when he is criticised or harassed is to physically lash out at the perpetrator, and suddenly finds himself in a school where he is being told that this response is wrong and that it will be punished.

The confusion this will cause is obvious. How then do teachers and others who work with this child help him to reset his memory patterns? How can we assist the child to begin reprogramming his brain as he attempts to navigate a system that makes perfect sense to teachers and principals but makes no sense to him?

After nearly 30 years of teaching, working in a variety of schools in different countries I am not convinced that we as teachers are providing for the needs of these students particularly well. Within schools, it is evident that punitive responses to poor behaviour act to reinforce those undesirable behaviours and that our staff are looking for opportunities to upskill in the area of working with traumatised children. There is a need to recognise challenging behaviours for what they often are: coping mechanisms.

For those who have never taught or been involved with the day-to-day administration within a school it may be difficult to appreciate the diversity of decision-making that permeates each day and the demands on time. This statement is not intended to excuse teachers for not dealing as effectively as we could with children who have suffered trauma, but it may go some way to explaining why more effective practice has yet to be seen on a broad scale.

With any perceived weakness or problem, effective solutions are those that look at addressing the primary causes or focus on areas that can bring about greatest change. As a society, we have work to do in the area of supporting vulnerable parents, to help break the intergenerational

cycles of poverty, abuse and drug use. Children who have grown up within these disrupted environments become adults who, without assistance, will probably perpetuate the cycle.

Educational institutions are involved to some extent in attempting to address the challenge of breaking cycles. Non-governmental organisations like the Smith Family are working with schools to assist with this. There exists an opportunity for schools to be working closely with their communities to develop programs that have the potential to help.

The other area of potential for positive change is the upskilling of our teachers and the logical place to start would be teacher training. Obviously, any perceived problem within education can be cast at the feet of universities, which are already running full and effective teacher training programs. It is unfair to suggest that universities take responsibility for every perceived weakness in the delivery of education.

In this instance it seems that our increased understanding of how trauma affects brain

development, the resulting barriers this creates for these children to effectively engage in education and our increased understanding of brain plasticity suggest that some attention should be given to this area

in undergraduate and postgraduate studies. Producing teachers who have a better

understanding of how to work with these children in a school environment and who can help other staff to understand their needs can only help strengthen our education system and help traumatised children succeed at school.

— Steve Bentley Flexible Learning & Alternative Programs Tasmanian Education Department

Over the past decade there has been a great deal of work done and research completed in the area of brain development and trauma. Dr David Ziegler, Dr Bruce Perry, Gregory Nicolau, Professor Ian Shellshear and many others have been drawing teachers’ attention to the importance of understanding maladapted brain function caused through experiencing trauma particularly in the formative years.

The evidence presented is assisting educators to better understand the implications of maladapted brain function in children who have suffered trauma. The brain is the only organ that develops in response to other brains around us. How others interact with us, how they speak, how often they speak, what they say and how they treat us all contribute to how we see the world. What we regard as normal, how we respond to others and our memory patterns are the result of what has happened to us and around us.

Children who have suffered trauma, particularly in the early years of life, have brains that have developed in a way that allows them to cope with the stressful and challenging environments in which they live. The way their brain has developed helps them cope at home but those same adaptations can make operating in other environments challenging and difficult for the child and for those who are working with that child.

School is a good example of a crossover from one environment to another. In the home environment,

Trauma, Brain Development

& School

“The brain is the only organ that develops in response to other brains around us. ”

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a painting, whether it’s an idea or painted image, but they’d better have a good reason to do it, and it’d better make the whole painting sing. The Fellaz laugh a lot in the studio and believe that humour is an important ingredient in the recipe for good collaboration, but it doesn’t mean the work is light and fluffy. They are serious about what they do.

Since beginning to paint, the Fellaz have produced paintings about friendship, food, family, country, mystery, politics, football and frogs. They’ve had exhibitions in Ballarat and Melbourne and artworks acquired by the Koorie Heritage Trust, the National Gallery of Victoria, Ballarat and District Aboriginal Co-operative and Centrecare Ballarat. Paintings have been commissioned by Psychiatric Services at Ballarat Health Services and Ballarat Grammar School. They also had an image of one of their paintings included in “Horses in Australia: An illustrated history”, by author Nicolas Brasch, and have produced and acted in a 7 minute, short film for the Survivor International Film Festival 2014.

The Fellaz have also developed a unique and dynamic series of art-making workshops that are interesting, inst ruc t i ve and entertaining for people of all ages. They have just finished a series of successful workshops at Artplay in Melbourne. They are keen for more.

This group came together to find a way to co-operatively express a strong and necessary presence for themselves, their community and their history in a place and time where Aboriginal people are still kept away from the centre of things. Pitcha Makin Fellaz is making plans for the future, the long term. They are taking a look at what is seen as the traditional view of things but are keen to make it new and relevant to themselves, their community and eventually to others.

— Pitcha Makin’ Fellaz

The Pitcha Makin Fellaz is a deadly mob of handsome, easygoing, passionate and independent men who come together on a regular basis to write and paint. Ted Laxton, Myles Walsh, Adrian Rigney, Peter-Shane Rotumah, William Blackall, Thomas Marks and Joe Lee are the Fellaz and are assisted by artist Peter Widmer.

The group first met on Friday, 28th June, 2013, at a Ballarat and District Aboriginal Co-operative shed near Ballarat. The group got together to discuss how they could tell the stories they knew about their country and community in a truthful and significant way. They were interested in making books but didn’t know much about it. They said they were interested in art but didn’t feel they had any know-how. One of the Fellaz summed it up when he said that he was keen but couldn’t draw and “didn’t have an artistic bone in his body”; so they covered the floor and tables in plastic, paint tins were opened and the yarning circle became a painting circle as they worked together to make a collaborative painting using the paint with brushes and stamps. A couple of hours later the group was happy, surprised and proud of the painting they’d made.

Four of the Fellaz had never made art before but as a group they all contribute to making the pictures when and where they are able; it is a true collaboration of ideas and art-making methods, where no-one is too precious about themselves but everyone is treated with respect. One fella is allowed to take out another fellaz contribution to

Pitcha Makin Fellaz

“The group got together to discuss how they could tell the stories they knew about their country and community in a truthful

and significant way. ”

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Seeking articles from young people, workers, carers and the broader community to showcase the diverse and amazing work undertaken in support of infants, children, young people and adults who are healing from childhood trauma.

Please contact Daniella Melilli at the ACT Group on (03) 9415 6066 or email Daniella.Melilli@theactgroup.com.au