Community Perspectives of Complex Trauma Assessment for Aboriginal Parents: 'Its Important, butHowThese Discussions Are Held Is Critical'

Catherine Chamberlain; Graham Gee; Deirdre Gartland; Fiona K Mensah; Sarah Mares; Yvonne Clark; Naomi Ralph; Caroline Atkinson; Tanja Hirvonen; Helen McLachlan; Tahnia Edwards; Helen Herrman; Stephanie J Brown; Jan M Nicholson

Journal article

Community Perspectives of Complex Trauma Assessment for Aboriginal Parents: 'Its Important, butHowThese Discussions Are Held Is Critical'

Catherine Chamberlain, Graham Gee, Deirdre Gartland, Fiona K Mensah, Sarah Mares, Yvonne Clark, Naomi Ralph, Caroline Atkinson, Tanja Hirvonen, Helen McLachlan, Tahnia Edwards, Helen Herrman, Stephanie J Brown, Jan M Nicholson

Frontiers in Psychology | Frontiers Media S.A. | Published : 2020

DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.02014

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Abstract

Background and Purpose: Becoming a parent can be an exciting and also challenging transition, particularly for parents who have experienced significant hurt in their own childhoods, and may be experiencing ‘complex trauma.’ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Aboriginal) people also experience historical trauma. While the parenting transition is an important time to offer support for parents, it is essential to ensure that the benefits of identifying parents experiencing complex trauma outweigh any risks (e.g., stigmatization). This paper describes views of predominantly Aboriginal stakeholders regarding (1) the relative importance of domains proposed for complex trauma assessment, and (2..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Cath Chamberlain Author

Graham Gee Author

Deirdre Gartland Author

Fiona Mensah Author

Related Projects (2)

Evidence-based life-course approaches to improve health equity of Aboriginal families during the perinatal period

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Healing the Past by Nurturing the Future: Learning how to identify and support Indigenous parents who have experienced complex childhood trauma

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Grants

Awarded by Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)

Awarded by NHMRC

Awarded by National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia

Funding Acknowledgements

The Healing the Past by Nurturing the Future project is funded by the Lowitja Institute Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health CRC and the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) project grant (1141593). Several authors were supported by NHMRC Fellowships, including CC and FM (Career Development Fellowships 1161065 and 1111160), GG (Early Career Fellowship 1161841), YC (Emerging Leader Fellowship 1178590), SB (Senior Research Fellowship 1161065), and HH (Practitioner Fellowship 10808020). Research staff at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute are supported by the Victorian Government's Operational Infrastructure Support Program.