The team aims to develop effective interventions for multiply traumatized children and adolescents. It has conducted a pragmatic randomized controlled trial of Narrative Exposure Therapy as well as piloted a model of trauma care in units for minor asylum seekers.
Research focus and goals
The research team is interested in finding the mechanisms behind effective interventions. It also seeks to explain the relation between trauma symptoms and deficits in cognitive performance.
Treating traumatized children is challenging work. It begins by recognizing the trauma exposure and its effects on childs mental health, development and daily life. Finding effective tools to measure the exposure, the effects of it, and also the resources of a child after traumatic events, is the target of psychological research. Our research group seeks to contribute the development and assessment of measurement tools related to trauma.
Also, the planning of psychological help targeted to the traumatised child, should be evidence-based. Our research group collects the clinical data about the effectiveness of the manualised trauma interventions and seeks to find out the mechanism behind the mental health recovery.
Other members
Samuli Kangaslampi, Ferdinand Garoff.
Contact persons
Kirsi Peltonen
University researcher
kirsi.peltonen [at] tuni.fi
+358 50 318 6181