Supporting Children Exposed to Substance Abuse and Domestic Violence

This presentation provides a compassionate, trauma-informed framework for behavioral health and domestic violence professionals working with children exposed to co-occurring family trauma. A central strength of the webinar is its distinction between active forms of abuse and coping mechanisms, while acknowledging how abusive partners can weaponize a survivor's coping strategies to exert control. Drawing on the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study, Patty Bland illustrates how multi-layered childhood adversity manifests in long-term physical, emotional, and behavioral challenges, emphasizing that time alone does not heal childhood trauma. The session breaks down the survival roles children adopt in unpredictable households, the protective nature of dissociation, and the critical need to separate normal emotions like anger from deliberate choices of power and control. Ultimately, Bland equips practitioners with practical insights to better evaluate risk, support non-offending caregivers, and deliver early, cross-system interventions for affected children.