Psychologist says N.S. must do more for traumatized children

The mother of a foster child says Nova Scotia lags behind New Brunswick when it comes to support for children who have experienced trauma.

Tammie Reid first met the boy she cares for when he was three and a half years old and living with a foster family.

Reid is a developmental interventionist with the Department of Education and was part of a team that was trying to help the child's foster family care for him.

We fix windows and doors in the calm places, and we love him up.- Tammie Reid

"I fell in love with this child the first time I saw him," she told CBC Halifax's Information Morning. "He's a beautiful, bright-eyed, funny little boy who has a heart the size of the universe.

"But we could quickly see he had no ability to self-regulate. By the time he was very young, his body and his brain had learned that grownups are not to be depended on."

Reid said the child's experiences of neglect as an infant have affected his neurological development, prompting aggressive and destructive outbursts and limiting his ability to form relationships.

As the boy grew older and entered the school system, his foster family struggled to meet his needs. When Reid was asked by the Department of Community Services to take him in, she accepted.

That was five years ago. Reid's foster son is now 11.

Finding a 'lifeline' with child psychologist

Despite Reid's best efforts, addressing her foster son's history of trauma has not been easy. She says the first year and a half was especially tough.

"Nothing was working," she said. "Every day we were doing the same day over again."

Nearly two years after welcoming her foster son into her home, she met child psychologist Dr. Kristen McLeod, who "quickly became a lifeline."

McLeod said since she arrived in Nova Scotia nine years ago, strides have been made to increase awareness around how to speak with, and about children who've been affected by trauma.

"Those are all steps in the right direction. We know the impacts [of childhood trauma]; there's no need for more research," she said. "It has long-term health effects."

But when it comes to resources to match that research, Dr. McLeod said there's still a disconnect. "The number of professionals specializing in this is still very limited."

Looking beyond talk and medication

Reid said the standard approach in Nova Scotia right now is a mix of medication and talk therapy — therapy that she said can cause her son to regress and remain that way for months.

Therapeutic alternatives do exist elsewhere, she said, including in New Brunswick, where one clinic offers neurofeedback. That approach aims to improve self-regulation and awareness through a patient's direct monitoring of his or her own brain functions. The U.S. military adopted it as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Reid said it's one important part of restoring a brain-body connection. If she was in New Brunswick, Reid said "we could start that work today."

But in Nova Scotia, neurofeedback is not offered, nor is it approved under the policy guidelines that Department of Community Services uses to determine whether a treatment is appropriate.

For now, Reid said she's left with little choice but to continue advocating for better services, talking to everyone she can — including her foster son — about what's happening in his brain, and trying to make him feel as safe as possible.

And when that's not an option, she said, "We just batten down the hatches and wait for it to pass. We fix windows and doors in the calm places, and we love him up."