Top of Page
Skip main navigation

Child and Adolescent Traumatic Stress Program

At Nova Southeastern University (NSU)'s Child and Adolescent Traumatic Stress Program (CATSP), our mission is to develop and implement best-practice psychological services for youth and families exposed to traumatic stress, bereavement, and other major life adversities and changes. Our areas of specialization include:

  • Assessment and treatment of diverse types of traumatic stress and associated posttraumatic stress reactions. This includes exposure to physical, sexual, and emotional abuse; domestic violence, community violence, accidents, and medical trauma.
  • Bereavement and grief, including prolonged grief disorder and a broad range of maladaptive and adaptive grief reactions.
  • Assessing youth adjustment in developmentally important life domains that may be impacted by trauma and bereavement, including functioning at home, school, and peer relationships.
  • Parent training to caregivers who need guidance with parenting, facilitating their child's treatment, and maintaining therapeutic gains.

As a specialized training clinic, CATSP is supported by Dr. Christopher Layne’s Trauma and Bereavement Research Lab at Nova Southeastern University. Collaborative projects include:

  • Building, refining, and applying multidimensional grief theory to bereaved and traumatically bereaved youth, families, communities, and organizations.
  • Constructing, field-testing, validating, and publishing studies on best-practice assessment measures. These measures include the Prolonged Grief Disorder Checklist for Bereaved Children and Adolescents (Layne, Kaplow, & Pynoos, 2022), and the Prolonged Grief Disorder Checklist for Bereaved Adults (Layne, Kaplow, & Pynoos, 2023).
  • Publications (book chapters, articles, press releases) on the assessment and treatment of children and adolescents exposed to traumatic stress, bereavement, and traumatic bereavement.

Presentations at professional meetings, podcasts, and webinars on our work, including prolonged grief disorder, multidimensional grief theory, and assessment. 

  • Children, adolescents, and their families exposed to traumatic stress–especially youth whose psychological problems and/or physical complaints began or intensified following a traumatic experience.
  • Children and adolescents experiencing prolonged grief reactions or other serious difficulties related to:
    • Bereavement (death of a primary caregiver, sibling, close relative, or other loved one)
    • Traumatic bereavement (accidents, overdose, suicide, homicide, negligence)
  • Types of trauma exposure addressed by CATSP Clinic trainees include:
    • Physical abuse
    • Sexual abuse
    • Neglect/psychological maltreatment
    • Domestic violence
    • Accidental injury
    • Community or school violence/bullying
    • Medical trauma (acute, chronic, and/or genetic medical disorders)
    • Natural disasters
    • Kidnapping/taken hostage
  • Clinical Services
    • Evidence-based assessment of potential psychological/behavioral consequences of traumatic stress and/or bereavement
      • Risk screening
      • In-depth clinical/diagnostic evaluations (e.g., posttraumatic stress disorder, prolonged grief disorder)
    • Evidence based interventions for child and adolescent:
      • Traumatic stress (individual and/or family)
      • Bereavement (individual and/or family)
    • Consultation regarding the needs and psychological care of children and adolescents exposed to trauma and/or bereavement, as tailored for:
      • Community mental health professionals and agencies
      • School teachers, administrators, and other school personnel
      • Medical healthcare providers and agencies
      • Legal, judicial, and law enforcement professionals and agencies
    • Training, education, and public outreach (including the Core Curriculum on Childhood Trauma) regarding the needs and psychological care of youth exposed to trauma and/or bereavement to:
      • Mental health professionals
      • Community mental health agencies
      • Medical healthcare providers, administrators, and agencies
      • School teachers, administrators, and educational agencies
      • Other child-serving professionals and agencies (child protective services, legal, judicial, law enforcement)
    • Research designed to raise the standard of care for trauma-exposed and bereaved youth, their families, and their communities. This includes evaluation of:
      • Tests for bereaved youth (e.g., Prolonged Grief Disorder Checklist)
      • Tests for trauma-exposed youth (e.g., UCLA PTSD Reaction Index)
      • Therapeutic interventions for trauma-exposed and bereaved youth
        • Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT)
        • Trauma and Grief Component Therapy for Adolescents
        • Multidimensional Grief Therapy
        • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Anxious Children (Coping Cat)
        • And others

Trauma and Bereavement Research Lab

The Trauma and Bereavement Research Lab, led by clinical psychologist Christopher M. Layne, Ph.D., is a dedicated group of students enrolled in the PsyD and PhD clinical psychology programs housed in the Department of Clinical and School Psychology at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Our research lab offers an apprenticeship-style learning experience in which Dr. Layne mentors students directly, providing hands-on guidance to help them excel in their respective areas of interest. Under Dr. Layne's tutelage, students gain valuable practical skills and knowledge in the fields of traumatic stress and bereavement, especially among children, adolescents, and young families. We help build the growing body of knowledge in these two rapidly evolving fields. By integrating academic pursuits with practical applications, we seek to not only advance principles of evidence-based practice and assessment in ways that meaningfully raise the standard of care for trauma-exposed and bereaved children. We also seek to become evidence-based practitioners who are well-prepared to join a national mental health workforce capable of meeting the urgent (and growing) demands for best-practice care in trauma-informed and bereavement-informed services. Lab activities focus on such topics as theory-building, test construction, naturalistic research, intervention development and evaluation, professional education and training, implementation and dissemination, and public advocacy.

 

Raising the Standard of Care in Two Fields (Childhood Traumatic Stress & Bereavement)

Our integrative approach aims to raise the standard of care in both the fields of childhood traumatic stress and childhood bereavement. A sample of current lab research projects includes:

  • Building instructional tools for training core competencies in Trauma Psychology, including competencies needed to work with youth and their families exposed to traumatic stress, bereavement, and traumatic bereavement.
  • Test construction, validation, evaluation, and training (most recently in the use of the Prolonged Grief Disorder Checklist for Bereaved Children and Adolescents, and the Prolonged Grief Disorder Checklist for Bereaved Adults).
  • Building and applying multidimensional grief theory to work with bereaved and traumatically bereaved youth and families. Our products include webinars, podcasts, conference presentations, and professional papers.
  • Field-testing manualized interventions (e.g., Trauma and Grief Component Therapy for Adolescents, Multidimensional Grief Therapy) and measures (e.g., the Prolonged Grief Disorder Checklist).

 

Supporting the CATSP Specialty Training Clinic

The Trauma and Bereavement Research Lab also supports the Child and Adolescent Traumatic Stress Program (CATSP) at Nova Southeastern University, which Dr. Layne also directs. CATSP offers a year-long training program for graduate students and interns in clinical psychology. The program offers specialized training in trauma-informed and bereavement-informed care for children, adolescents, and families. Some Trauma and Bereavement Research Lab members are former, current, or incoming CATSP trainees. Lab activities supporting the CATSP training clinic include:

  • Pilot-testing tools for training core competencies in Trauma Psychology.
  • Validating measures that will be used in CATSP (the PGD Checklist)
  • Creating training materials to help CATSP trainees competently use trauma- and bereavement-focused assessment instruments (including the PGD Checklist)
  • Applied clinical research evaluating CATSP training and clinical outcomes
  • Evaluating electronic medical records (EMR)-based methods to train, implement, and evaluate outcomes of assessment measures and manualized interventions
  • Publishing papers, chapters, and conference presentations featuring the work of CATSP as a specialized training clinic

 

Student Directed Study and Doctoral Dissertation Work

The Trauma and Bereavement Research Lab also provides a supportive environment for students who are passionate about developing their major papers. These include (for PsyD students) directed study projects, and (for PhD students) doctoral dissertation projects, both undertaken in a collaborative group format. Collaboration and mutual support are core lab values that help to raise the quality of students’ projects and contribute to the advancement of the field. Lab practices include:

  • Help students refine their research topics by facilitating discussions and collaboration among lab members. By sharing ideas and providing constructive feedback, we foster a dynamic learning environment that encourages students to think critically and explore innovative approaches. Through these collaborative efforts, students can refine their research questions and develop a deeper understanding of their chosen topics.
  • Collaboration with Dr. Layne in critiquing (as an invited reviewer of) journal manuscripts.
  • Reviewing and critiquing articles to become informed consumers of psychological research.
  • Developing research writing skills through co-authoring research papers and chapters.
  • Offering resources and support to help students enhance their writing abilities and develop a clear and compelling narrative of one’s professional research interests and aspirations.

 

The Trauma and Bereavement Research Lab aspires to be an enriching journey of research, collaboration, and personal growth for students. Together, we strive to advance the field and make a positive impact on the lives of children who have experienced trauma or loss.

 

Current (2022-2023) Research Lab Coordinators:

Ayesha Ahmad aa3557@mynsu.nova.edu

Blake A. Barrientos by114@mynsu.nova.edu

Sierra Kuhn sk1863@mynsu.nova.edu

Stevie Schapiro ss4843@mynsu.nova.edu

All clinical services offered through the Child and Adolescent Traumatic Stress Program are conducted under the direction of licensed psychologists and clinical supervisors, who have over 50 years of combined clinical and research experience in the fields of traumatic stress, bereavement, and professional training and education.

College of Psychology
3300 S. University Drive,
Fort Lauderdale, FL, 33328-2004

 

Clinics
(954) 262-5730
(954) NSU-CARE (678-2273)

Return to top of page