Implications of Trauma on Occupation across the Lifespan

Objectives:  

1. Participants will identify 3 neurological implications of chronic developmental trauma at the chemical, cellular, and cortical levels.

2. Participants will identify experiences of trauma impacting current and future occupations.

3. Participants will identify individualized action steps to progress their journey in trauma informed practice in their current and/or future practice settings.

Presented by Rachel Ashcraft, MS, OTR/L, TBRI® Practitioner

Rachel Ashcraft is a licensed and registered occupational therapist with a focus on trauma informed practice.  Rachel is the clinical supervisor for OT/PT/ and Counseling services at the Hoover location of Child’sPlay Therapy Center in Alabama.  Rachel is a Trust Based Relational Intervention® practitioner and finds the merging of attachment theory, family systems theory, and trauma informed models such as TBRI® with OT Practice a powerful combination for occupational therapy practice. Rachel is an adoptive parent and former foster parent. She credits the children who shared her home as her best and most cherished teachers. She currently serves as President of the Alabama Occupational Therapy Association.  She has been at the forefront of the national OT movement towards more trauma informed care across the profession.  She has received recognition from both State and National Occupational Therapy Associations for her work with vulnerable children, including receiving the 2018 Emerging & Innovative Practice Award from The American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.  Rachel founded a 501(c)3, Foster the Future Alabama, with the mission of reducing the inequality in services provided to children in Alabama’s foster system. Rachel’s scholarly work involves contributions related to trauma informed school-based practice, trauma informed community based practice with an emphasis on the foster care community, and trauma informed outpatient practice for children and families.