Podcast Transcript: Dr. Nik Stefanidis
Dr. Nik Stefanidis has been working with traumatized youth for years. He recently co-authored Trauma Informed Consequences for Homeless Youth, which distills his research on the subject. He talked with NCFY about his work.
Time: 4:14 | Size: 3.96 MB
NCFY: Welcome to Voices from the Field, a podcast series from the Family and Youth Services Bureau. Dr. Nik Stefanidis of the Hollywood Homeless Youth Partnership is at the forefront of a growing effort to understand how traumatic events shape the behavior of runaway and homeless youth. Stefanidis talked with us about Trauma Informed Consequences, the partnership’s research-based method of modifying the behavior of traumatized young people in shelters and other service settings.
DR. STEFANIDIS: We believe that the best treatment for the person who has been traumatized is to teach them something. Not to teach them what not to do, but to teach them instead what is the best way or the most pro-social way of behaving. Punishment is usually used to assert power and control. Trauma Informed Consequences try to take into account what is logical. Does the punishment fit the crime? They’re supposed to be given with empathy and in a respectful tone. And they are reasonable, based on the behavior.
In a person who’s traumatized, the part of the brain that is responsible for critical thinking, for cause and effect relationships, for projecting oneself in the future and realizing that if I do not do X now, Y is not going to happen later on—those parts of the brain are very much underdeveloped. What is over developed is the back of the brain, is the occipital lobe, the part of the brain that sees.
So these young people are, or any traumatized person is very hyper-vigilant. You have to be aware of your non-verbal language and your facial expression. Because these young people are masters at reading somebody else’s intentions.
NCFY: Stefanidis explained what trauma-informed youth work looks like in practice.
DR. STEFANIDIS: Let’s say that we have a young person whose name is Jake and we’re trying to work with him in calming down. And the wrong way will be, “If you don’t stat calming down, I’m going to call security. You don’t have to say here, you know. You either watch your language or you can leave.” The right way would be to check yourself and find out, okay. Is Jake really getting on my nerves? And if he is, then I need to get somebody else to work with him.
Another example, told to me by a staff member who worked with a young man who was a good poet. And the staff member congratulated the young person for their creativity. And he would say to them, “Write it down.” After this person was ready to move on, the staff member asked him, “Well, what about the poetry? Did you write it down?” The young person said, “Well, I don't know how to write.” He never took the time to assess the young person’s ability to write things down.
Before you react to the young person’s misbehavior, take a look at their background. Where do they come from? What types of traumas have they sustained, for how long? And then act accordingly. What I need to communicate to the young person is, “Now that you are in a different situation, can we agree to behave in a different way?”
NCFY: For more information on Trauma Informed Consequences, visit the Hollywood Homeless Youth Partnership online at HHYP.org.
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