TPC-Journal-V5-Issue2

195 The Professional Counselor Volume 5, Issue 2, Pages 195–199 http://tpcjournal.nbcc.org © 2015 NBCC, Inc. and Affiliates doi:10.15241/efh.5.2.195 Edward Franc Hudspeth, NCC, is an Assistant Professor of Counselor Education at Henderson State University and served as the guest editor for the special issue of The Professional Counselor on children with special needs and circumstances. Correspondence can be addressed to Edward Franc Hudspeth, Department of Counselor Education, Henderson State University, 1100 Henderson Street, Arkadelphia, AR 71999, franchudspeth@gmail.com. Edward Franc Hudspeth Children With Special Needs and Circumstances: Conceptualization Through a Complex Trauma Lens When conceptualizing this special issue, we had a basic idea of what might be included; however, as submissions arrived, it was evident that our basic definition of special needs was limited and could include much more when broadened. Therefore, the issue was reconceptualized as “Children with Special Needs and Circumstances.” It is my hope that when practitioners, researchers and faculty read this issue, each begins to see that the term special needs encompasses more than we think, because anything that hinders the optimal growth and development of a child constitutes a special need. In this issue, readers will find articles concerning fears, trauma, sensory processing disorder, foreign adoption, cystic fibrosis, spina bifida, homelessness, special education and parent–child interaction therapy. Keywords: counseling, children, special needs, complex trauma To set the stage for this special issue, to provide a foundation for understanding and to link the various articles, I encourage readers to conceptualize the impact of a special need through a complex trauma or developmental lens. Over the past 15 years, countless articles have reported and described the impact of chronic stress and adverse childhood experiences (Anda et al., 2006; Edwards et al., 2005) and the subsequent development of complex trauma. Complex and Developmental Trauma The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (n.d.-a) has defined complex trauma as a series of traumatic experiences that are usually interpersonal in nature and lead to numerous long-term adverse effects on health and well-being. Similarly, van der Kolk, Roth, Pelcovitz, Sunday and Spinazzola (2005) described experiencing repeated traumatic events during childhood as developmental trauma. The duration and intensity of the traumatic experiences, as well as the age of onset of these experiences, can determine the outcome of both complex trauma and developmental trauma. Neuroscience research provides ample evidence of neurochemical and brain structural changes caused by complex trauma that result in affective and behavioral dysregulation (Lanius, Bluhm, & Frewen, 2011). Though the terms developmental trauma and complex trauma were originally used to represent repeated abuse or an accumulation of traumatic experiences, recent neuroscience research has extended these terms to other conditions and experiences. Copeland, Keeler, Angold, and Costello (2007) noted that a long-term physical illness may lead to complex trauma, while D’Andrea, Ford, Stolbach, Spinazzola, and van der Kolk (2012) and Finkelhor, Ormrod, and Turner (2007) reported that bullying also may lead to similar outcomes.