ABSTRACT
Teachers need to know how to work therapeutically with children who have experienced trauma. With the recent influx of refugees into the UK from war-torn countries, it is likely that many teachers may be faced with children who have been traumatised, without ever having had any training in how to handle this. Much, however, has been learnt about the impact of traumatic events on children in recent decades from disasters, such as the sinking of the Herald of Free Enterprise. Three different types of stress reaction have been noted in children: there may be a period of adaptation to stressful life events or life changes; there may be an immediate reaction to an exceptional stress, such as an earthquake or a serious accident, which usually lasts only hours or days; or there may be a delayed and/or protracted response to a traumatic event. The last type constitutes posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and it is with this that we mainly concern ourselves here. PTSD, therefore, tends to occur after a one-off traumatic event, such as a natural disaster or a severe car accident, rather than from long-term stress due, for example, to prolonged marital discord or sexual abuse. It is increasingly recognised that PTSD can occur in children. Their reaction to stress varies and, whilst in some children reactions may be devastating, other children show extraordinary resilience.
