On September 21, Bruce Perry, MD, PhD, was joined by Amy Meyertholen, MSW with the Arizona Council of Human Service Providers and Dr. Elaine Rankin with the Cottonwood Oak Creek School District to discuss how the Neurosequential Model can help people respond to and care for children in developmentally appropriate ways in different settings.

The Neurosequential Model

The Neurosequential Model, while not a specific therapy or intervention, is designed to mitigate the negative impact of trauma on neurodevelopment in a variety of ways.

In a clinical setting, the approach includes an assessment of a child’s functioning, their history of adversity, and the health of their relationships. This assessment helps identify how a child’s development may have been impacted at different stages, and how their experiences may impact their current functioning. This allows providers to select interventions that are the most appropriate for the child’s development at any given time.

The Neurosequential Approach involves a sequence of repeated activities, often beginning with sensory-based activities to help build the child’s capacity for self-regulation before moving on to more developmentally advanced social and cognitive activities. The Neurosequential approach stresses both the need for consistent, repetitive sensory input and movement therapies — such as yoga, music, massage, art therapy, and drumming — as well as the need for stable relationships with positive, healthy adults providing a safe, healing environment.

The Neurosequential Approach includes three key components:

  • Training/capacity building for clinicians on how to use the model;
  • Assessment based on the model;
  • Selection and sequencing of therapeutic, educational, and enrichment activities that match the needs and strengths of the individual.

Applying the Neurosequential Model to Different Settings

The concepts of the Neurosequential Model can be applied to various settings to help people who work with children and families offer developmentally appropriate care. The model has been adapted specifically for therapeutic, education, caregiving, sport, early childhood, and reflection and supervision settings. Examples of how the model has been adapted for caregiving and education settings include:

Caregiving Setting

The focus of the Neurosequential Model for Caregivers is to train and educate parents, childcare staff, and other caregivers on concepts including trauma, attachment, and child development. The goal is to help caregivers understand the children they care for and allow them to respond appropriately.

Education Setting

Under the Neurosequenital Model for Education, educators are taught about the effects of trauma on brain development how they can apply these concepts in their teaching. The presenters noted that schools applying the model have seen decreases in teacher turnover and burnout and increases in student attendance and achievement.

Dr. Perry encouraged different sectors to consider how applying the concepts of the Neurosequential Model can improve the work they do and contribute to ongoing growth in their field. Dr. Perry urged policy makers to consider how they can support including these concepts in training and education programs for people entering fields that regularly interact with children and families, such as social work and law enforcement.

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