Presented with Lutheran Family Services, this one-time screening will be followed by a post-film panel discussion.
RESILIENCE presents research indicating children who experience traumatic stress during childhood (meaning sexual, emotional, or physical abuse, as well as neglect) are primed for a host of diseases and self-destructive behaviors as they grow older. Though researchers have expounded on the correlation between childhood risk factors and adult illnesses (heart disease, cancer) and addictive behaviors (alcoholism, eating disorders) this film captures the urgency of the problem.
Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACEs, do not just impact a child’s psychology. They change the body’s chemistry and stress response. As a sequence in the film attests, adrenaline is the body’s response to danger and fear — it helps the fight or flight response. An environment that constantly evokes this response takes a toll on the body. The overproduction of adrenaline causes insomnia, nervousness, and a weakened immunity. Cells have a harder time repairing themselves, the body ages more rapidly, and the ability to learn is impeded. Though children may seem like they’ve moved past their traumatic experience, the body remembers.
Viewers of RESILIENCE may also be interested in James Redford’s documentary PAPER TIGERS, which shows how one school in Washington took the research presented in RESILIENCE and created a program to combat the negative behavior caused by toxic stress.
The post-show panel will be composed of experts in the field of trauma as it relates to three core competencies addressed by Lutheran Family Services: Children Services, Behavioral Health, and Community Services. Speakers will include Dr. Matthew D. Dobbertin, D.O. Adolescent Psychiatry; Cyndi Muhlbauer, MA, LIMHP, Lutheran Family Services Statewide Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Program Coordinator; Sharon Robino-West, MA, CPSWS, Vocational Development Specialist for the Department of Veterans Affairs and trauma survivor; and Deb Wesselmann, MS, LIMHP, Founder of the Attachment and Trauma Center of Nebraska and internationally recognized expert in the treatment of child trauma. The panel will be moderated by Dr. Donna L. Polk, Ph.D, LMHP, Chief Executive Officer, Nebraska Urban Indian Health Coalition.
— Diana Martinez, Film Streams Education Director
