The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria

Buffers That Protect Against Adverse Childhood Experiences: Session 265 with Camille Kolu

Jun 5, 2024

In this engaging conversation, Camille Kolu, a leading voice on trauma's impact and author of 'Providing Buffers, Solving Barriers,' shares her insights on protecting against adverse childhood experiences. She emphasizes the importance of resilience and supportive measures through personal anecdotes and research. Topics include strategies for work-life balance, enhancing life opportunities, and overcoming learned helplessness in children. Kolu also discusses practical courses for professionals, advocating for a customized approach to behavior analysis that prioritizes mental well-being.

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ANECDOTE

Camille's Personal Postpartum Story

Camille Kolu shared her personal struggle with postpartum anxiety and depression while parenting two young children.
A sleep consultant helped her improve her and her children's sleep, which transformed her wellbeing and relationship with her daughter.

INSIGHT

Understanding Behavioral Buffers

Buffers are focused behavioral areas that prevent biological harm from uncontrollable stress.
The six key buffers include relationship, nutrition, exercise, sleep, mental health, and stress relief.

ADVICE

Approach Fuzzy Buffers Behaviorally

Address hard-to-measure buffers like relationships and mental health by fostering nurturing connections and promoting positive emotions.
Use the PERMA model: positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and achievement to enhance mental health.

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Dr. Camille Kolu joins me again on the podcast, and let's just say that she came back loaded with great insights like these to share with you.

If you're not familiar with Camille, she's been on the show before (see here), and is one of the predominant voices discussing the impact of trauma, and how it interacts with what we do as Behavior Analysts.

In this episode, we discuss her recent paper in Behavior Analysis in Practice, Providing Buffers, Solving Barriers: Value‐Driven Policies and Actions that Protect Clients Today and Increase the Chances of Thriving Tomorrow.

This article is not about trauma, but instead, it's about practices and repertoires that can protect individuals from the harmful health impacts of adverse childhood experiences. We also discuss Camille's article in Operants Magazine, called, Understanding Choice, which is where that audio segment was clipped from.

If you like the work that Camille does and want more training from her, she has generously provided listeners with a discount on her training materials over at Cusp Emergence University. If you want to go deeper into this topic of Buffers and Barriers, she has not one, but two courses on it, providing both Ethics and Supervision CEUs. If you want take her other courses in the area of Trauma, you can do that too (just click here to check it out). When you do so, be sure to use the promo code summerofBOP24 to save 24% off at checkout.

Camille also created a free, 15-minute course called, The Buffers Story: Simple, Important Things We Almost Forgot, and she'll be doing a workshop later this month with Connections-Behavior.

Lastly, if you like Camille's content, perhaps the easiest way to keep up with it is to sign up for her mailing list.

Burke-Harris (2018). The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Adversity (note: Amazon Associates link).
Kaiser ACES studies information.
Ala'i-Rosales et al. (2019). The Big Four: Functional Assessment Research Informs Preventative Behavior Analysis.
Ratey (2008). Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain (note: Amazon Associates link).
Inside JABA 10: Towards Trauma-Informed Applications of Behavior Analysis.
Session 179: Behavioral Relaxation Training.
Maier and Seligman (2016). Learned helplessness at fifty: Insights from neuroscience.

In full disclosure, these are not sponsored products and events; I’m just trying to get the word out there. However, the sponsors that are responsible for bringing this episode to you include:

Please welcome our newest sponsor, The New England Center for Children! I am beyond thrilled to partner with one of the oldest and well-respected ABA institutions to help them find staff to continue their mission of supporting individuals with Autism. Learn more about careers at NECC over at necc.org/jobs.
ACE Approved CEUs from .... Behavioral Observations. That's right, get your CEUs while driving, walking your dog, doing the dishes, or whatever else you might have going on, all while learning from your favorite podcast guests!
The Behavioral Toolbox. thebehavioraltoolbox.com is a new education and training site that my colleagues Anika Costa and Dr. Paulie Gavoni and I have been working on for over two years. We have two courses available: our first course, Ready, Set, Consult! and our newly released course, When Not to FBA: 5 Quick Strategies for Improving Behavior in Classrooms.
Behavior University. Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at behavioruniversity.com/observations. Don't forget to use the coupon code, PODCAST to save at checkout!