ABSTRACT
Objectives Strengthen children’s skills to modulate affective responses and effectively cope with com-
mon situations encountered at school, at home, and in the neighborhood.
Overview
Recovery from chronic and severe traumas requires reprocessing the demons, fears, and reaction patterns that have plagued children and families, sometimes for generations. Reexperiencing past traumas for short intervals may strengthen traumatic stress reactions. Establishing safety, building trust, and developing skills need to come first so that tough times from the past can be reexperienced long enough to allow reduction in trauma reactions and desensitization to triggers. Building skills, support, and self-confidence help prevent rekindling or strengthening trauma reactions.
