Precipitated by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the Trauma and Resilience Program seeks to assess the psychological, social and biological impact of traumatic events on children across the developmental stages from the toddler years to young adulthood to develop more effective treatments and interventions and to understand the role of individual resiliency and community support in the process of recovery. Work also focuses on services to traumatized and bereaved children and on the systematic study of assessment and interventions which are effective in reaching these goals. Four distinct areas focus on treatment and service research in a particular venue or population. They include:

• The School-Based Intervention Program has provided an estimated 4,500 children and their families in the New York City downtown community public schools with a range of mental health services in response to the events of 9/11 and continues to provide prevention and intervention programs related to ongoing exposure to community and other forms of violence to which children are commonly exposed.
• Foster Care and Child Mental Health Program serves preschool children placed in foster care who have experienced neglect or abuse. The goal of the program is to identify factors that facilitate social and emotional adjustment, such as sibling placement and the quality of relationships between the biological parent, agency and foster parent
• Families Forward Program was developed to serve the continuing needs of the children and families of those whose lives were lost as a result of 9/11. The scope and outreach efforts have been expanded to include a wider range of families all sharing the common task of raising healthy children who have lost a parent.
• Trauma, Life Skills and Resilience in Adult Years includes assessment and treatment of adults who experienced sexual or physical abuse in childhood or physical/sexual assault in adulthood. The program provides 16 session psychotherapy with a focus on developing skills emotion regulation and interpersonal relationships to enhance the quality of day-to-day life, which are often derailed in childhood as a result of abuse.

Marylene Cloitre, Ph.D. directs research on Trauma and Resilience Program at the NYU Child Study Center and is the Cathy and Stephen Graham Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the NYU School of Medicine. Dr. Cloitre's clinical efforts and research focuses on the assessment and treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), as well as the effects of childhood maltreatment on emotional and social functioning across the life span.

Dr. Cloitre has authored and co-authored a number of treatment manuals, books and book chapters including the NYU Child Study Center publication Caring for Kids After Trauma, Disaster and Death: A Guide for Parents and Professionals-Second Edition (PDF). She is the lead author of a practical guide to the treatment of PTSD and its complex effects on social and emotional functioning in adults, Treating Survivors of Childhood Abuse: Psychotherapy for the Interrupted.

For more information on the Trauma and Resilience Program, please visit the NYU Child Study Center at www.aboutourkids.org.

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