Theodore J. Gaensbauer

Theodore J. GaensbauerTheodore J. Gaensbauer, M. D., Private Practice;Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, Colorado

BIO: Dr. Gaensbauer has been actively involved in research and clinical work with infants and toddlers for over 30 years. Currently in full-time private practice, he is a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and is also on the faculty of the Irving Harris Program in Child Development and Infant Mental Health within the Division of Child Psychiatry. He is board certified in Child and General Psychiatry and a Fellow of both the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the American Psychiatric Association. He is the co-author of the book Emotional Expression in Infancy: A Biobehavioral Study and has published over 50 articles and book chapters on various aspects of infants’ and toddlers’ social and emotional development. His particular areas of interest have been emotional regulation and attachment in infancy and the impact of early trauma on children’s social/emotional development.

PRESENTATION TITLE AND DESCRIPTION:

Telling their Stories: Representation and Reenactment of Early Traumatic Experiences

Using clinical examples, Dr. Gaensbauer will illustrate the various ways in which very young children’s internal representations of a trauma can be expressed. A particular focus will be on reenactment behavior, with discussion both of the neuropsychological underpinnings of such behavior as well as the disruptive effects that such behavior can have on children’s development. Therapeutic implications of the growing understanding of the impact of trauma experienced in early childhood will be examined.

At the completion of this presentation, the participant will:

  1. Demonstrate the degree to which young children, even under the ages of two years, can remember a traumatic experience.
  2. Demonstrate the various ways that the memories of a trauma can be expressed, including through verbalization, emotional reliving, avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma, and behavioral reenactment.
  3. Provide information on the neurological underpinnings of reenactment behavior, including a discussion of recent findings on “mirror neurons” and their likely role in traumatic reenactments.
  4. Outline therapeutic approaches to the treatment of early trauma.