Welcome to the 5th Episode of the Dr. J Show, where we bring the world’s experts to talk about the issues that face families and the faithful.
Dr. Rodriguez is a general pediatrician in Tacoma, WA, who sees patients from birth to college. She has a special focus on working with children, families,
and adults who have experienced trauma in their lives. She is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Child Abuse and Neglect.
She is a member of the Catholic Medical Society and the Christian Medical and Dental Associations. She works in ministry to adult survivors of abuse
including survivors of human trafficking. She uses a model of long-term healing and restoration. She has given presentations to community and medical
groups on the science of trauma and toxic stress and on human trafficking awareness and prevention. She also facilitates peer support groups for survivors
of abuse through the Maria Goretti Network in the Seattle area. She is married, mother to three children, and serves her church as lector, catechist
and mentor. She contributed two chapters to the book Abuse of Trust by Allen Hebert.
Resources:
- Hopeful Hearts Ministry, hopefulheartsministry.org (any survivor of any abuse)
- Maria Goretti Network, mgoretti.org (peer support group with chapters in the US)
- Adorned in Grace, adornedingracetacoma.com (ministry to prevention and restoration
of human trafficking survivors and any survivor of trauma/abuse) - Mending the Soul (books, support groups, lots of educational material from a Christian perspective)
- John Paul II Healing Center, jpiihealingcenter.org (resources, retreats, Catholic)
Reading Recommendations
- Abuse of Trust by Allen Hebert
- The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk MD
- Be Healed by Bob Schuchts
- Mending the Soul book and ministry by Steven Tracy
Action Item: Buy the book Abuse of Trust. Read it! Give it to your pastor, school principal or anyone else involved in ministry. Give
it a positive review on Amazon!
Follow the guidelines of trauma-informed ministry:
- Realize that trauma/abuse exist and is very common
- Recognize the signs of trauma
- Respond in a trauma-informed way (using the VEEL approach)
- Avoid re-traumatization
- Consider setting up a trauma-informed church/school/family to create a safe place for survivors to begin to heal