Kentucky Court of Justice
AOC, U of L, East End Psychological and Jewish Hospital sponsoring child trauma symposium March 1 in Louisville

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Professionals in the fields of law, medicine, psychology, education, social work and others will come together to discuss how to address the causes and effects of child trauma at a symposium Thursday, March 1, in Louisville. The program, Faces of Childhood Trauma, will take place from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. in the Rudd Heart and Lung Center at Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s HealthCare at 201 Abraham Flexner Way. The center is located on the 16th floor. The media is invited to attend the multidisciplinary symposium.

“Often, members of these differing fields come into contact with the same child who has been affected by trauma, yet there is an absence of communication among them in dealing with the problem,” said Jefferson Family Court Judge Joan L. Byer, who is a co-chairwoman for the symposium. “Sometimes this leads to a misdiagnosis of a child with trauma-based issues and even overmedication on psychotropic drugs. We want the professionals who participate in the symposium to come away with a greater awareness of the impact of trauma and a plan to work across their disciplines to address the issues surrounding childhood trauma.” 

The symposium will include lectures, an internationally acclaimed documentary on trauma, roundtable discussions and a multidisciplinary panel discussion. Child and adolescent psychiatrists Drs. Allan Josephson and Fred Stocker of the Bingham Clinic and psychologist Kaveh Zamanian, Ph.D., of East End Psychological Associates in Louisville are the keynote speakers for the symposium. The Bingham Clinic is at the University of Louisville. 

Approximately 138 professionals are scheduled to attend the program, including judges, physicians, nurses, psychologists, law enforcement officers, social workers, attorneys, juvenile justice professionals and child advocates.

Judge Byer; Patrick Yewell, executive director of the Department of Family and Juvenile Services at the Administrative Office of the Courts; and University of Louisville social work professor Anita Barbee will provide opening remarks at the meeting. Zamanian and Barbee are symposium co-chairs with Judge Byer.

The Administrative Office of the Courts, the University of Louisville Kent School of Social Work, Jewish Hospital and East End Psychological Associates are sponsoring the event. The Court Improvement Program and Jewish Hospital are funding the symposium, which is free for invitees.

Administrative Office of the Courts
The Administrative Office of the Courts in Frankfort is the operations arm for the state court system. The AOC supports the activities of nearly 3,300 court system employees and 403 elected justices, judges and circuit court clerks. As the fiscal agent for the state court system, the AOC executes the Judicial Branch budget.