Chryne Griffiths (Charlie) & Patricia Glossop

1. NSW Aboriginal Mental Health and Wellbeing Workforce Forum 2016: Celebrating Success“How Working from a strength and respect base perspective can support Aboriginal families to work towards a brighter future and working towards closing the gap in Aboriginal life expectancy.” Chryne Griffiths (Charlie) & Patricia Glossop

2. Brofenbrenners’s Social Ecology Model, adapted for Aboriginal perspective.(Chryne Griffiths) COLONISATION No human habitation (Terra-Nullias) Massacre. Genocide Disintegration of language & Kinship systems PRE- COLONISATION Human habitation Knowledge & trade - hunting & gathering Removal Of land Oral tradition of learning Time of Creation – Dreamtime, spirituality, Respect for ancestral beings, respect for Elders Traditional medicines Racism, Abuse, Discrimination Sacred places Disease, Alcohol drugs Kinship systems Systems Of lore & punishment Separation Of families Attitudes & ideologies of the culture Ceremonies for birth, death, initiation, marriage; Men’s business, Women’s business Forced foreign cultures Desecration of environment Loss of lore & customs Chronosystem: Patterning of environmental events and transitions over the life course:Sociohistoricalconditions.

3. Trauma, grief and loss – related to ‘the history of invasion, the ongoing impact of colonisation, loss of land and culture, high rates of premature mortality, high levels of incarceration, high levels of family separationshas been identified as the greatest burden among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, which will lead to mental heath problems or illness(Australian Health Ministers, 2003)

4. Judy Atkinson, describes trauma in Aboriginal people as almost like an onion where you have layers and layers and layers of trauma, abuse, grief and loss issues that need to be peeled back and dealt with and that’s a lot of work. After there’s been a great hurt there has to be a healing and it has to be multi-layered

5. The reason behind this need – the colonisation and the stolen generations and the assimilation policies – all of these things were really multi-pronged antecedents and I think we really need multi-pronged approaches to healing to address these Shane Merritt 2009

6. At the root of all these problems is a fracturing of traditional supportive, secure relationships which often have been transgenerational • This traumatic history was widespread and sustained over decades • As a result, there is significant trauma and loss that has accumulated over generations

7. The sense of extreme powerlessness that many families feel in the face of great adversity, racism and discrimination MUST be acknowledged • Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people carry a significant burden of loss and bereavement from an early age

8. This is due in part to the high rates of mortality • illness • Incarceration • deaths in custody • involuntary hospitalisation among people in their communities. .

9. For many Aboriginal Individuals who were separated from their families early on in their life experienced- • confusing • frightening • broken emotional communications during their infancy

10. Often grew into adults who have difficulty understanding their own emotions and the feelings of others. • This limits their ability to build or maintain successful relationships.

11. A LITTLE SCIENCE

12. It has been well documented that babies exposed to certain conditions in the womb are often born with particular abnormalities or clinical syndromes Research on sheep

13. "These images illustrate the negative impact of neglect on the developing brain. In the CT scan on the left is an image from a healthy three year old with an average head size. The image on the right is from a three-year-old child suffering from severe sensory-deprivation neglect. This child's brain is significantly smaller than average and has abnormal development of cortex." These images are from studies conducted by a team of researchers from the Child Trauma Academy (www.ChildTrauma.org) led by Bruce D. Perry, M.D., Ph.D.

14. Study conducted on 15,000 adults recently medically evaluated. A 68 question survey about 7 categories of childhood trauma (adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) was completed. • 1) Lived with problem drinker, alcoholic or street drug user • 2) Sexually abused (overt abuse only) • 3) Lived withmentally ill person • 4) Mother treated violently • 5) Emotionally abused • 6) Physically abused • 7) Household member went to prison The relationship of adult health status to childhood abuse & household dysfunction. Charles L. Whitfield MD Felitti VJ, Anda RF, Nordenberg D et al: American Journal of Preventive Medicine 14(4):245-258, May 1998

15. Percentage presently smoking ACE score Charles L. Whitfield MD Felitti VJ, Anda RF, Nordenberg D et al: American Journal of Preventive Medicine 14(4):245-258, May 1998

16. A person with a ACE score of 4 is 390 times more likely to have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease than is a person with an ACE Score of 0 • A person with ACE score 4 or more was 460 times more likely to be depressed than a person with ACE score of 0. • For groups with higher ACE scores, incidence of attempted suicide increases thirty fold to fifty-one fold! • They found that more than two thirds of suicide attempts could be attributed to adverse childhood experiences. • a male child with an ACE score of 6 has a 4600% increase in the likelihood of later using intravenous drugs Charles L. Whitfield MD Felitti VJ, Anda RF, Nordenberg D et al: American Journal of Preventive Medicine 14(4):245-258, May 1998

17. Everyone is bornpre-programmed to bond with one very significant person—your primary caregiver, probably your mother. • Like all infants, you were a bundle of emotions—intensely experiencing fear, anger, sadness, and joy.

18. The emotional attachment that grew between you and your caregiver was the first interactive relationship of your life, and it depended upon nonverbal communication

19. The bonding you experienced determined how you would relate to other people throughout your life, because it established the foundation for all verbal and nonverbal communication in your future relationships.

20. Our program focuses on rebuilding and re-establishing these emotional bonds to ensure secure positive relationships and long term good mental, physical and emotional health. • This is not easy and takes time SO • IT IS WORTH IT

21. Programs need to be multi- pronged for the families • They MUST be supported with a secure relationship approach.

22. This secure relationship approach needs to focus on the individual and the relationships they forge with their children • Behaviour modification programs will NOT work here

23. The relationship between infants and their primary caregivers—is responsible for: • shaping the success or failure of future intimate relationships • the ability to maintain emotional balance

24. We now have evidence that a relationship based approach is an essential component of successful prevention!Barnard, Johnson, Walker, Lally, Mangione, Hoang. • In fact parent infant relationship building programs that have been followed up to 15 years show less behaviour and mental health problems long term

25. A didactic approach is much less successful than a program that focuses on relationship building • And • Infant led psychotherapy as in Marte Meo, Circle of Security,  Wait Watch and Wonder, PCIT, Seeing is Believing is seen as the most successful intervention(Muir, Wesner, Dowling, Johnson)

26. A number of studies offer evidence that maltreatment can be prevented • The promise of preventive intervention is considerable. • the ability to enjoy being ourselves and to find satisfaction in being with others

27. The ability to rebound from disappointment, discouragement, and misfortune • Taken together from these studies- • early preventive interventions have the potential to improve in the short term the child’s health and welfare

28. Including better nutrition • Physical health • Fewer feeding problems • Low-birth-weight babies • Accidents and emergency room visits • Reduced potential for maltreatment

29. Parents can also expect to benefit in significantways (including educational and work opportunities) • Better use of services • Improved social support • Enhanced self-efficacy as parents • Improved relationships with their child and partner

30. In the long term • Children may further benefit in critical ways behaviourally e.g. • Less aggression • Distractibility • Delinquency • Better educationally • Better attitudes to school

31. Higher achievement in terms of social functioning and attitudes • In addition parents benefit in terms of • employment • education • and mental well-being

32. ‘Offers a compelling explanation for the feelings associated with the "trauma" of separation and loss – fear, anxiety, anger, sadness, and despair – and for their disruptive effects on personality development'. Rutter and O'Connor 1999 Attachment theory

33. “Our brains are sculpted by our early experiences. Maltreatment is a chisel that shapes a brain to content with strife, but at the cost of deep, enduring wounds” Teicher, 2000, p. 67

34. Boomerangs Parenting Program Artist: Susan Grant Developed in Australia by Chryne Griffiths and Patricia Glossop using a program based on the Circle of Security Cooper, G., Hoffman, K., Powell, B. Marvin, R. (2000). MarteMeo Program – Maria Aarts. (2008), while drawing on traditional Aboriginal wisdom and culture.

35. The Boomerangs Coolamon Parenting program • Is based on the  Circle of Security and Marte Meo programs • Up to eight families participate in this program, which incorporates weekly sessions and two Camps with additional culturally appropriate therapies and activities built in • This program focuses on Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander children from conception to school age and their parents

36. The Circle of Security  • uses a group treatment style of learning to provide parent education and therapy that is based on attachment theory • It is an intervention program designed to alter the developmental pathway of parents and their young children

37. The Marte Meo Program Is a developmental support program, which can be used in daily interaction moments. • The central focus of MARTE MEO, is to encourage people to use "their own strength" to advance and stimulate developmental processes on the part of children, parents, professional caregivers and supervisors, and thus learn to utilise their capacities to the optimum. • This program was designed by Maria Aarts, from the Netherlands

38. Identify parenting strengths • Work with underused parenting capacities and • Identifying core vulnerabilities, where parent and child miscue each other Boomerangs Coolamon Parenting Program is designed to:

39. promote healing in families.  • give parents the tools to work with their children from a relationship perspective  • begin their journey to a brighter future The program aims to:

40. Audiovisual person to take photos, and videos and provide material for books binding families

41. The families are followed up and support is provided if necessary • Parents are made aware of other services Follow Up

42. “If we value our children, we must cherish their parents.” John Bowlby, MD

43. The traditional nature versus nurture debate is simplistic and scientifically obsolete • Early experiences clearly influence brain development, but a disproportionate focus on birth to three begins too late and ends too soon • Early intervention programscan improve the odds for vulnerable children, but those that work are rarely simple, inexpensive, or easy to implement From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development TAKE HOME MESSAGE

44. How young children feel is as important as how they think, particularly with regard to school readiness • Healthy early development depends on nurturing and dependable relationships • Culture influences all aspects of early development through child-rearingbeliefs and practices TAKE HOME MESSAGE From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development

45. Educate yourselves re effects of maltreatment on early brain development, and effective interventions • Educate yourselves on attachment theory and the effects of disorganised attachment on later child development • Move beyond blaming parents, communities, business, or government • Be a secure base for parents by being reliable, attentive, caring and supportive The Role of Professionals

46. Frequent, repeated positive experiences that are nurturing, stable, predictable, and supportive • Consistent nurturance • Intensive, early interventions that have a relationship focus What do Children Need?

47. Chryne Grifffiths (Charlie) • Email:chryneg@gmail.com • Phone: 0407277904