la rabida children's hospital

La Rabida Hosts National Conference to Help Heal Emotional Wounds

Thursday July 16th, 2009

La Rabida's Chicago Child Trauma Center is the local host of -an annual face-to-face meeting of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network and the Partnership with Youth and Families Committee -on July 20 and 21, 2009.    

Held Hostage author Michelle Renee will kick off the conference on Sunday, July 19, with a book signing before the Lifetime Movie Network premier of the screen adaptation.

Meeting
The two-day meeting will be held at the University of Illinois’ School of Public Health in Chicago and is drawing youth, families, and trauma professionals from across the country.  The meeting objective is to increase the leadership capacity of young people and caregivers following traumatic events such as violent crimes and sexual abuse.

Book Signing
Michelle Renee, award winning author and motivational speaker, joined the efforts of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network after she and her daughter sought healing in a member trauma center following their kidnapping and hostage ordeal.

In 2006, Renee penned Held Hostage: The True Story of a Mother and Daughter’s Kidnapping, an account of their 14-hour kidnapping and hostage ordeal.  The book went on to win national recognition and the Lifetime Movie Network purchased the movie rights.  The book signing will be in the restaurant Affinia Hotel Chicago, 166 East Superior, at 4 p.m., -and, the movie starts at 6 on the Lifetime Movie Network channel.

“A key aspect of the book and movie is the depiction of emotional damage in the aftermath of violence, abuse and other trauma for both youth and adults,” said Renee.

In 2008, Renee added her story of survival to the Survivor Wall of La Rabida’s Chicago Child Trauma Center.  Her image rests along side other notable survivors Media Giant Oprah Winfrey, Author Maya Angelou and, the Commissioner of Chicago's Department of Mental Health, Dr. Terry Mason.

For more information about the book signing, contact Vikki Rompala at 773.374.3748, ext. 2230.

Chicago Child Trauma Center
La Rabida’s Chicago Child Trauma Center serves inner-city African Americans and other Chicago-area children from ages 3 to 18 exposed to traumatic events including medical trauma, sexual abuse, witnessing violence, and complex trauma.

The CCTC is a Community Treatment Services site of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN).  Now serving more than 400 children per year, the center also adapts and disseminates evidence-based NCTSN interventions for urban African-American children; collaborates on developing new treatment models; provides outreach, training, and consultation to child services system stakeholders on the effects of trauma; and works with fellow NCTSN workers to explore the links among race, urban poverty, and trauma.

The CCTC is the only agency in Chicago that specializes in trauma-focused assesment and psychotherapy for the full range of potentially traumatic events experienced by children.