Early childhood ruptured attachments, adversity and trauma experiences have significant impacts on health, development and well-being throughout the lifespan. Understanding these impacts and learning care strategies that can enhance professionals’ and caregivers’ abilities to prevent or mitigate these impacts can reduce the incidence of health crises and improve overall well-being and quality of life. Participants will learn the fundamentals of attachment patterns, developmental trauma and associated behaviors and will discuss strategies for working with traumatized children and supporting parents and caregivers. This on-demand webcast will provide an essential foundation for understanding the need to implement new care practices and will advance participants’ knowledge of cutting-edge attachment and trauma-response care in their professional and personal lives.

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is characterized by instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image, and emotions, as well as by impulsivity across a wide range of situations. BPD is often underrecognized and underdiagnosed. This activity will provide an update for clinicians on issues related to the prevalence, diagnosis, recognition, documentation, course, and treatment of BPD. A discussion on the frequency of underdiagnosis BPD in clinical settings, clinically useful approaches to improve detection, how to educate patients surrounding the treatment approaches such as dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and the impact it has on patients when diagnosed with BPD will also be highlighted.

This activity will focus on various evidence-based treatments for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), including psychopharmacology, complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), and intensive behavioral therapies, including applied behavioral analysis (ABA). The significance of early intervention services and educational support beyond preschool will be highlighted. In addition, the benefits of supportive practices such as mindfulness and stress management for caregivers will be explored.

This activity will provide an overview of neurodiversity and examine the essential features of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), including deficits in social communication and interaction, as well as distinct patterns of repetitive behaviors, interests and activities. It will also discuss ASD and developmental screening and explore optimal approaches to care following a diagnosis.