Therapy
YOUTH EXPERIENCING TRAUMA
CHILDHOOD TRAUMA
Childhood trauma occurs when a child experiences an actual or threatened negative event, series of events, or set of circumstances that cause emotional pain and overwhelm the child’s ability to cope.
Our Goal
YCJ Partners’ goal is to provide services that are responsive to the cultures, lived experiences, and developmental needs of children, teens, and families.
Our Approach
We are guided by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) foundational competencies to deliver clinical interventions that address trauma. Treatment plans may address affective, behavioral, biological, cognitive, and social domains.
Treatment activities are determined based on an individual’s age, goals, hopes, and comfort level. For children, activities may include directive and/or non-directive play therapy, art activities, and character storytelling.
Nurturing and Empowering Youth Affected by Multiple Adversities
Dr. Christine Gerchow is a licensed psychologist (PSY 29762) and credentialed school psychologist. She has facilitated over 5,000 individual psychotherapy sessions and more than 300 group sessions, primarily serving youth and families impacted by trauma and adverse childhood experiences.
Most of Dr. Gerchow’s work has been in juvenile corrections settings, where she facilitated Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) groups, and taught the Aggression Replacement Training (ART) curriculum. She also brings specialized training in Girls Circle and is certified in Functional Family Therapy (FFT), which she delivered with full fidelity for youth on community supervision.
In addition to being a direct-service provider, Dr. Gerchow served as the Supervising Psychologist for Contra Costa County’s Trauma Recovery Center (TRC) from 2021 through 2025, helping build the program from inception to an established clinical service.
As a registered yoga teacher (RYT), Dr. Gerchow frequently incorporates somatic (body-focused) interventions into her practice, though only when these interventions are suitable or specifically requested by the youth she works with.
Sources of Childhood Trauma Include:
- Parental Incarceration
- Parental substance misuse
- Living in foster care
- Exposure to community violence
- Abuse and neglect
- Family violence
- Community violence
- Life-threatening accidents & injuries
- Frightening/painful medical procedures
- Serious & untreated parental mental illness
- Loss of/separation from a caregiver
- Natural or manmade disasters
- War or terrorist attacks
- Forced displacement or refugee status
- Discrimination
- Extreme poverty
Childhood? Which Childhood? The one that didn’t last? The one in which you learned to be afraid?
- Li-Young Lee
Adverse Childhood Experiences
- An estimated half of all children in the United States —approximately 35 million— are exposed to at least one type of trauma prior to their eighth birthday.
- The impact of trauma can be compounded by structural inequities.
- Service providers must engage children, adults, and families with gentility and humility through all phases of treatment.
While trained in a range of evidence-based interventions, Dr. Gerchow introduces them only when youth and families are ready to engage in that work. Her priority is building safety, trust, and respect—honoring each family’s pace, needs, and lived experience.
While serving as a psychologist at Contra Costa County’s Juvenile Hall, Dr. Gerchow and several young men co-designed a sensory-based mindfulness and relaxation class. In 2019, the class was highlighted at the Coalition for Juvenile Justice Conference in Washington, D.C.
TESTIMONIALS
Christine was an incredible leader as the Health Services Director at the Juvenile Justice Center. She has a real talent for bringing together different agencies and stakeholders to work as a team, always keeping the focus on what’s best for the youth. Her passion for helping young people is at the heart of everything she does, and her vision for a better future for them is inspiring.
Primary Care Pediatrician & Adolescent Rotation Director – UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland Assistant Clinical Professor – UCSF School of Medicine
Christine Gerchow is an advocate for patients and has worked tirelessly to understand the needs of individuals who have experienced trauma. She is an indispensable resource and valued greatly by both patients and staff members.
Deputy Health Officer and Pediatrician/Provider, Contra Costa County Health Services