Danbury Hospital To Host Child Abuse Prevention Conference

DANBURY — Danbury Hospital Department of Pediatrics will host the Seventh Annual Child Abuse Prevention Conference and Dinner on May 5 and 6.

On Thursday, May 5, former FBI agent and traumatic stress expert James T. Reese, PhD, will be the guest speaker at the annual dinner held at The Inn at Ethan Allen, 21 Lake Extension Avenue in Danbury. He will present “Snowman Falls from the Sky Unassembled: The Challenge of Care Giving.”

Dr Reese’s presentation will address the challenges faced by caregivers of abused children such as traumatic stress. According to Dr Reese, whose experience includes teaching stress management to tens of thousands of law enforcement personnel and employees of Fortune 500 companies, traditional stress management training does not measure up to the needs of those traumatized by what today is known as a “critical incident.”

Cocktails begin at 6 pm and dinner will be served at 6:45 pm. The cost for the dinner is $50.

On Friday, May 6, Dr Reese joins Jack S.C. Fong, MD, chairman, Danbury Hospital Department of Pediatrics and clinical associate professor at New York Medical College, and several other experts at the Seventh Annual Child Abuse Prevention Conference from 7:30 am to 4 pm in the John C. Creasy Center for Health Education Auditorium at Danbury Hospital.

Dr Reese will present, “The Anti-Social Child: Predictors of Violence” beginning at 8:15 am. Other speakers and topics include: Assistant Attorney General, State of Connecticut, Carolyn Signorelli, Esq, “Child Protection Law: Guiding Parents and Protecting Children Amid Legal Ambiguity”; Gerard J. McGlone, SJ, PhD, visiting professor of psychology, Department of Psychology, Saint Joseph’s University, “Sexually Offending Roman Catholic Clergy Context and Understanding”; Mary E. Muscari, PhD, RN, CRNP, CS, professor of nursing, University of Scranton, “Kid’s Media: The Good, the Bad, and the Just Plain Awful”; and John M. Leventhal, MD, professor of pediatrics, Yale University School of Medicine, and the Yale Child Abuse Team, “The Workings of a Multidisciplinary Team: When Two Heads are Better Than One.”

A question and answer session will follow the program. John Gundy, MD, attending pediatrician, Danbury Hospital, associate clinical professor, Yale University School of Medicine, and Ana Paula Machado, MD, attending pediatrician, Danbury Hospital, clinical assistant professor, New York Medical College, will serve as moderators. Costs to attend the conference are $75 for physicians, $40 for nonphysicians, $20 for students. RSVP for the dinner and the conference by April 28, to Marjie Szep, assistant to the chairman, Department of Pediatrics, at 739-7940.