Webinar Title
Utilizing a Comprehensive, Trauma-Informed Assessment Framework: Strategies and Techniques for Working With Children and Adolescents Impacted by Complex Trauma (1.5 CE/CPD)
Date and Time
Tuesday, October 21, 2025, 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. CDT
Learning Objectives
1. Outline the components of a comprehensive trauma-informed assessment framework and its importance for youth and families impacted by complex trauma.
2. Describe specific tools and techniques and key process elements to support implementation of a trauma-informed assessment approach with youth and families from diverse backgrounds.
3. Describe strategies to facilitate family engagement, treatment planning, and collaboration across providers in the context of trauma-informed assessment.
Abstract
A trauma-informed assessment is an essential first step in identifying and addressing trauma-related needs of children and families. This intermediate presentation will highlight a recently established framework for conducting a comprehensive, trauma-informed assessment to capture the range of needs and strengths of children and families impacted by complex trauma. Based on evidence-informed approaches, key components and strategies for conducting an effective trauma-informed assessment will be illustrated, including domains and techniques for a comprehensive assessment; organizational process elements; tailoring the assessment to developmental/sociocultural contexts; and utilizing the assessment to facilitate family engagement, collaboration across providers and systems, and treatment planning and intervention.
Bio
Cassandra Kisiel, PhD is a professor, associate director, and clinical psychologist within the Mental Health Services and Policy Program and the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. She is the principal investigator and director for the Center for Child Trauma Assessment, Services and Interventions, a longstanding category II center within the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN). This center specializes in supporting trauma-informed, child-serving systems and in developing the infrastructure to understand, assess, and respond to the complex, developmental effects of childhood trauma. Dr. Kisiel has over 25 years of experience specializing in complex, developmental trauma, with a focus on trauma-informed assessment and evaluation; implementing trauma-informed practices within child welfare and juvenile justice settings; trauma-informed systems; dissociation, resilience, and strengths; and supporting trauma-informed, strengths-based, and youth-centered practices with transition-age youth. She has published, lectured, and trained extensively in these areas.