About This Session

Individual awareness of the effects of indirect trauma exposure is a basic part of protecting the health of the parent to ensure that children consistently receive the best possible care from those who are committed to helping them.

Secondary traumatic stress is the emotional duress that results when an individual hears about the firsthand trauma experiences of another. Each year more than 10 million children in the United States endure the trauma of abuse, violence, natural disasters, and other adverse events. These experiences can give rise to significant emotional and behavioral problems that can profoundly disrupt the children’s lives and bring them in contact with child-serving professionals. For foster parents and adoptive parents involved in the care of traumatized children, the essential act of listening to trauma stories or providing a stable relational environment may take an emotional toll that compromises professional functioning and diminishes the quality of life. Individual awareness of the effects of this indirect trauma exposure is a basic part of protecting the health of the parent to ensure that children consistently receive the best possible care from those who are committed to helping them.

About Your Instructor

Dr. Adam Sáenz earned his Ph.D. in School Psychology from Texas A&M University as a United States Department of Education doctoral fellow. He completed clinical training under a fellowship appointment to Harvard Medical School, and he has a post-doctorate in clinical psychology from the Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Dr. Sáenz also earned a Doctorate of Ministry in Pastoral Counseling from Graduate Theological Foundation with residency at Christ Church college of Oxford University. He currently serves as the C.E.O. of the Applied EQ Group, the counseling and assessment clinic he founded in 2003. He also serves as a consulting psychologist in the Texas A&M College of Medicine, and he leads professional development courses in public schools throughout the United States. Dr. Sáenz has authored multiple titles, including the best-selling, The Power of a Teacher and Relationships That Work. His most recent release, The EQ Intervention, was an Amazon best-seller that won the Independent Publisher Association gold medal in psychology. Dr. Sáenz and his wife, Kim, have been married 27 years, and they have four adult children: Alisa, Mya, Isaiah, and Andrew.

Dr. Adam Sáenz

Psychologist, Author, Trainer

"Fantastic session - I cannot wait to share this info with fellow professionals and parents I know."

- 2023 Lost Sparrows Trauma Conference Attendee

Join us in learning more about secondary traumatic stress.