The Biology of Loss

Description

**This is a recording of a Live Presentation given at the Institute of Child Psychology’s 2021 Children’s Mental Health Conference. As it is a Live recording, please note that there may be unscheduled technical difficulties, pauses/breaks, as well as reading of comments which you may not be able to see.

The Biology of Loss

This presentation, based on the best-selling Scattered Minds, Hold on To Your Kids, and In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts, outlines the mental health implications of early childhood emotional loss, whether due to abuse in the family or simply of stress on the parents, on the subsequent loss of attunement with the child.

Childhood developmental disorders such as ADHD, ODD, and other mental health problems such as anxiety, depression, personality disorders, etc. can all be traced to either negative childhood experiences or the absence of sufficiently positive ones. Addiction and adult mental health issues also flow from the same source.

The impact of the environment on brain development is discussed, along with ways of recognizing and helping to heal the negative consequences of early loss. Also discussed is the impact of peer orientation, as articulated in Hold On To Your Kids.

OBJECTIVES

• Discuss the basis of healthy child development: the attachment relationship with parents, teachers, and other adults.
• Explore how the human brain develops in interaction with the social/psychological environment
• Examine how the stressors in our culture have undermined the necessary conditions for healthy development, and their consequences in childhood and adolescent disorders
• Introduce peer orientation and how it competes with children’s adult attachments
• Foster a recognition of intra-family stressors and learn how  to deal with them in order to create a nurturing environment for children
• Learn how to promote resilience as a function of attachment