Trauma and Addiction: A Tangled Relationship

The experience of trauma changes the brain and shows up in cliens’ behaviors. Substance use is a purposeful means of soothing the disruption caused by trauma that in the words of Bessel Vanderkolk “works until it doesn’t.”When it no longer works, families are easily overwhelmed. Both trauma and substance use disrupts families and causes harm. Reference to the Adverse Childhood Experience research will be discussed. This workshop will define addiction and trauma. It will look at behaviors that are often symptoms of trauma. It will provide information related to trauma informed care that reduce re-traumatization and inform staff on methods for addressing both addiction and trauma within families.

Marilyn Stein, MSG Consulting