Dell Med Joins Efforts With The Refuge For DMST To Care For Recovering Survivors Of Child Sex Trafficking At The Refuge Ranch

AUSTIN, Texas, Nov. 13, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Refuge for DMST™ (Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking) is collaborating with the Department of Psychiatry at Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin to help improve the lives of young people recovering from sex trafficking by providing care at The Refuge Ranch -- the largest long-term, live-in rehabilitation facility for child survivors of sex trafficking in the United States.

As part of this collaboration, two senior Department of Psychiatry faculty members, Jeffrey Newport, MD and Valerie Rosen, MD oversee psychopharmacological and evidence-based psychotherapeutic treatment, respectfully, and a senior psychiatry resident provides weekly psychiatric services. Together, the team conducts diagnostic assessment and psychiatric treatment planning for child survivors currently living at The Refuge Ranch.

The Dell Med team, led by Charles B. Nemeroff, MD, PhD, professor and acting chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Director of the Institute for Early Life Adversity Research, also plans to conduct research with The Refuge Ranch therapeutic and medical staff to better understand the specific needs of young people who have experienced sex trafficking.

The research component would involve following the child survivors at The Refuge Ranch for the next 1.5 to 2 years, from when they were first admitted, to their discharge, then during their transition from The Refuge Ranch to a new living environment. During that time, data could be collected to determine the effectiveness of various trauma-focused therapies and identify the best predictors of treatment response.

"The Refuge is an extraordinary resource, a one-of-a-kind facility for treating those who have experienced trafficking and is unique in the nation for its current level of care," said Dr. Nemeroff. "This is an extremely vulnerable group of young people who have significant health needs stemming from trauma. Understanding those particular needs requires research that's carefully conducted with appropriate safeguards in place to protect these young women during their recovery," he said.

"Our goal is to provide the very best care available for child survivors of sex trafficking," said Brooke Crowder, CEO and Founder of The Refuge for DMST. "With faculty from Dell Med rounding out our psychiatric care, The Refuge Circle of Care™ that wraps around each girl is complete. Through research collaboration, we also see the potential to gather empirical data about a population that has been hard to study. Trafficked children frequently run away as a self-defense mechanism and it's hard to turn off, even when they feel safe. The Refuge Ranch is a place where the girls can finally turn off that hyper-aware state of fight-flight-or-freeze and be a kid again. In this safe environment, psychiatrists can help us to assess what treatments work best. This ground-breaking data could help other facilities work with their state legislatures to inform policy decisions. With empirical data in front of them, it should be easier for states to help the most vulnerable children in the child welfare system."

The Refuge Circle of Care provides comprehensive treatment for young survivors, with trauma-focused programs addressing their unique psychological, physical, educational, social, spiritual needs, while improving community connections with relatives, and teaching independent living and job skills.

These new psychiatric services will add to current services provided by The Refuge Ranch staff, which already include weekly one-on-one therapy sessions with in-house licensed therapists specializing in Developmentally adaptive Cognitive Processing Therapy (D-CPT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), plus Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy, sand tray therapy, experiential therapy, equine therapy, and more, based on their individual needs. The girls also have the opportunity to participate in group therapy with other survivors. To round out the holistic approach, The Refuge Ranch provides art, farming/agricultural activities, gardening, yoga, dance, self-defense, music, etc., plus daily enrichment options for self-regulation and body awareness.

All of the The Refuge for DMST staff, not just the therapeutic staff at the ranch, are trained in Trust Based Relational Intervention (TBRI), and they receive other on-going professional training specific to the care of child survivors of sex trafficking.

The Institute for Early Life Adversity Research is within the Department of Psychiatry and a component of the Mulva Clinic for the Neurosciences.

About The Refuge for DMST
The Refuge for DMST™ (Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking) is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that has developed The Refuge Ranch, a long-term, residential, therapeutic community for 48 girls, minors through age 19, who have been rescued out of sex trafficking. Built from the ground up on 50 acres in a beautiful and restorative setting outside of Austin, TX, The Refuge Ranch provides trauma-informed, holistic care for the girls on site, including: psychiatric services provided by Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin's Department of Psychiatry and the Institute for Early Life Adversity Research; education provided by the University of Texas-University Charter School (UT-UCS); medical services by community partners; and various therapeutic programs uniquely designed for the development of a child survivor. The Refuge Ranch is the largest long-term, live-in rehabilitation facility for child survivors of sex trafficking in the United States. For more information, go to www.therefugedmst.org.

For B-roll, photographs, logos, relevant statistics and recommended reading, visit The Refuge Press Page at https://therefugeaustin.org/press-kit.

SOURCE The Refuge For DMST

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https://therefugeaustin.org/