PORT ANGELES — Prevention Works! is bringing an expert on child trauma to Clallam County for an online seminar Aug. 11.
Robert Lusk, who has a doctorate, is a nationally recognized clinician and speaker on understanding and treating trauma.
Registration is open now for the seminar, which will be from 10 a.m. to noon via Zoom. The fee is $50, and scholarships are available by a donation from United Way of Clallam County and The Answer For Youth (TAFY).
To register, go to the Prevention Works! website at pw4kids.org/ or at Eventbrite at tinyurl.com/PDN-PreventionWorksSeminar.
Prevention Works! is providing the seminar for people who work with, care for or are engaged in the lives of children to help them move toward the future, especially after experiencing trauma and difficulty.
“The pandemic has been stressful for so many children across Clallam County, and the timing is right to address it,” according to a Prevention Works! press release.
Said PW! President Ann Simpson of Forks: “Our PW! vision is that every Clallam County child will thrive.”
In this seminar, Lusk will discuss the types and causes of emotional distress, what happens in a child’s brain during distress, how children’s physiological state impacts stress, how to build attunement and use positive discipline and how to promote emotional regulation in a stressed child.
Lusk’s life’s work is helping trauma survivors and their families, according to the release.
He provides training and consultation to parents and professionals on trauma-related issues, including parents of special needs children and on attachment disorders, psychotropic medications, reintegration after stressful deployment and psychiatric disorders.
Lusk is the clinical director at The Baby Fold in Illinois where he designs and implements new programs and provides clinical supervision, consultation and oversight to all the agency’s treatment programs, the release said.
He also teaches part time at Illinois Wesleyan University and has been involved in investigative research on trauma for more than 30 years, including studies of treatment approach efficacy and cognitive and school-related effects of trauma.
He has published several journal articles and book chapters on understanding and treating trauma. At the Brentwood Veterans Administration Medical Center in Los Angeles, Lusk’s internship focused on PTSD treatment for combat veterans. He has continued to provide supervision, training and treatment for veterans and other adult trauma survivors.
“Dr. Rob Lusk brings us a rare combination of deep scientific knowledge, years of working with emotionally distressed children and youth, practical advice and humor,” said Mary Wegmann, PhD, local retired clinical psychologist and past president of Prevention Works!
“No matter how you engage with children or youth — as a parent, caregiver, teacher, social worker or concerned grandparent — you will learn new skills from this powerful professional two-hour focused Zoom event.”
Lusk’s master’s and doctoral degrees in clinical psychology were earned at the University of California at Los Angeles.
Further inquiries about the program may be made via email at info@pw4kids.org.
