ABSTRACT
Recognize and respect family strengths, caring for child, and ethnic heritage as well as the impact of any violence, abuse, neglect, losses, or hardships Demystify children’s behaviors including predictable reactions to the difficult work of overcoming trauma, the need to grieve losses, and the pulls and pressures to repeat traumatic experiences Engage and contract, wherever possible, to work with parents, extended family, caretakers, children, and other therapists to change trauma cycles for the good of all, utilizing psychoeducation on trauma to replace any shaming and pathologizing with positive steps toward creating safety, building strengths, and fostering enduring positive attachments Practice and test strength and viability of safety plans for children, caring adults, and for themselves Develop back-up plans for rebuilding attachments if child’s primary caretakers become unable or unwilling to raise child
Caring Adults: Parents, Guardians, or Primary Caretakers
Understand impact of trauma on children’s neurophysiological development and behavior as well as how caring adults can help children rebuild trust and learn new behavioral patterns Demonstrate and encourage use of creative arts and words to express feelings, beliefs, and memories Modulate own anxiety, anger, and impulses well enough to protect child from becoming overwhelmed or feeling they must “parent” adults or protect adults from facing traumas Develop, implement, and practice safety plans for self and children Accept and acknowledge validity of children’s experiences
Children
Understand at age-appropriate level how traumas including neglect and family violence lead to natural reactions including hyperarousal, agitation, startle responses, hypervigilance, avoidance, and reexperiencing past sensory experiences (auditory, smell, tactile, visual, motor) in the present as flashbacks Understand how reminders of past traumas trigger repetitions of trauma reactionsthe ABCs of Trauma
— — Self-monitor how feeling states change (Knots and Personal Power Thermometers)
without immediate fear/flight/fight responses — Differentiate internal reactions (e.g., hyperarousal) from outside precipitating events — Express thoughts, actions, and feelings for memories — Associate words with feelings and think about what is happening — Utilize calming messages, imagery, and movement to reduce stress, e.g., “SOS” and
deep breathing — Remind self of goals and use self-talk to guide behavior — Reduce blaming and shaming of self and others — Focus on one step at a time when working on an activity — Reinforce themselves for small achievements — Recognize triggers and alarm signals in their bodies and work to calm self without dan-
gerous reenactments of trauma cycles — Manage frustrations and modulate anger and fear sufficiently to avoid harm to them-
selves or others
