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Helping Children With Psychological Trauma
"We should aim to restore each child's sense of security and competence and return their life back to its normal routine."
Children sometimes have a startling or frightening experience; the effects of which remain with the child for some length of time. Their vision of the world as a safe and predictable place is shattered. What remains may be fear, anxiety, confusion and perhaps a sense of hopefulness. This is called psychological trauma.
What may cause psychological trauma for a child? Many causes are the same as those affecting adults. Examples include experiencing an earthquake or fire, being caught in a severe storm, the onset of serious illness, the death of a loved one, a burglary, witnessing an accident, or suffering physical abuse.
What can we expect from a child who has been through a trauma? A traumatized child needs time to recover and readjust. He wants to be close to parents and feel that extra security. The child may want to talk about what happened or he may withdraw. A child's behaviour may regress to earlier stages of development including problems with toilet training, thumb sucking, and sleeping. The child may be afraid of going to bed alone, have difficulty falling asleep, experience nightmares and wake up during the night.
How can we help children recover from the traumatic experience? As parents, we are the most important people to assist our children in the recovery process. We should aim to restore each child's sense of security and competence and return their life back to its normal routine. Some suggestions are:
- Be with your child as much as possible immediately after the incident. Children want and need to feel the love, caring and physical closeness of a special grownup.
- Give the child many opportunities to tell and retell the story of what happened.
- Really listen to and accept the child's viewpoint.
- Encourage the child to draw pictures about what happened and have the child retell the story using puppets or dolls. Often the child wants to share the story including its happy ending.
- Show the child you understand her/his fear and keep listening ~ she/he may have more to tell you.
- Praise your child for any good actions taken during the traumatic incident.
- Include the child in future prevention planning and preparation.
For further assistance, seek information from an EFAP Representative within the work place, or contact the ARS directly.
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Lower Mainland Assessment & Referral Service©