Health Care : Current Reviews

Supporting and healing kids with stress and trauma

Joint Event on 3^rd International Conference on Pediatric Nursing and Healthcare & 3^rd International Conference on Perinatal Nursing and Adolescent Psychiatry

September 21-22, 2018 | Vancouver, Canada

Dianne Maroney

The Imagine Project Inc., USA

Keynote: Health Care Current Reviews

Abstract:

Our children are stressed???more stressed than we realize. Research shows that kids are often more stressed than adults. Kids are also exposed to trauma. At least half of all children have experienced one or more traumatic experiences before the age of 17. Stress and trauma in children often cause difficulty concentrating, fears, aggression, lack of self-confidence, depression and a host of physical illnesses including lowering immune function and hormonal imbalances. Health care providers, teachers, parents, counselors and all who care for children have a responsibility to assess, support and help children heal from stress and trauma. Mindfulness, Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT, also called Tapping) and expressive writing have been proven by research to support the processing and healing of children (and adults) who are or have experienced difficult life circumstances. Simple mindfulness techniques, 2-minutes tapping and a standardized expressive writing technique called The Imagine Journal have measured increased GPA, decreased dropout rates, self-reported positive emotional health outcomes, physiologic changes such as positive cortisol shifts and improved outcomes for health conditions. Such outcomes have rivaled the power of drug studies. Because these techniques are all simple and standardized, they can be incorporated into homes, schools, medical offices and into an organization that supports the needs of children and a child can bring these techniques into their daily lives for social-emotional support.

Biography :

Dianne Maroney is a Clinical Nurse Specialist in Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing. She is the founder of The Imagine Project, Inc., a nonprofit organization that helps kids and overcome challenging life circumstances through expressive writing. Dianne is an international speaker and author of several books including her most recent, The Imagine Project: Empowering Kids to Rise Above Drama, Trauma and Stress (Yampa Valley Publishing, 2018). She is a thought leader in stress and trauma in children. Her simple, yet profound 7-step writing tool, now used by schools across the US, gives kids and teens the opportunity to rewrite a challenging personal story and Imagine new possibilities in its place.

E-mail: maroneyd@aol.com