How to Respond

Trauma is an overwhelming experience for both children and parents. Parents want to help their traumatized children but don’t always know what they can do. Below are some tips and strategies that may help you and your child, as you work to respond to the effects of their traumatic event(s).

How can you help your child after a traumatic event?

Understand
Trauma is like no other experience. Traumatized children may not have control over their emotions and behavior because the terror they experienced has left them feeling out of control.
Be Patient
Trauma destroys a child’s sense of safety and security. Children will need time to feel safe again. Be patient with regression.
Be Nurturing
This is an “all the cookies and milk you can eat” time. Encourage parents to spend more time with their child interacting in meaningful ways. Play games, read books, or go for a walk together.
Keep It Simple
A traumatized child will find it difficult to concentrate and remember even the simplest of things. Remind parents to keep things simple by saying only one or two things at a time. Visual charts of the daily schedule or tasks to be completed are helpful.
Normalize
Reinforce your child's understanding that the reactions they are experiencing are normal following their experience.

Recognizing Trauma Triggers

A trigger is a reminder of past trauma. This may be a person, place, thing, or situation that reminds your child of the trauma they experienced. It can set off an emotional alarm system, causing feelings of overwhelming sadness, anxiety, or panic. Our capacity to navigate our triggers and recognize them in our children is critical to our ability to provide gentle guidance and help kids grow strong as they overcome their negative experiences.

Common trauma triggers include:

Unpredictability or sudden change
Loss of control
Feelings of vulnerability or rejection
Confrontation, authority, or limit setting
Sensory overload
Loneliness
Situations perceived as unfair or unjust
Being in or around the location that their trauma occurred
Seeing someone who reminds them of their trauma or who may have been present when it happened

Source: https://www.youthdynamics.org/

Responding to Trauma Triggers

It can be difficult to know how to help your child through trauma triggers when they arise. Below are a few tips to help you guide your child through these difficult barriers.

Reassure: Reassure your child that they are safe and answer their questions honestly.
Validate: Acknowledge and validate your child's concerns.
Provide a sense of control: Let your child make some decisions for themselves, such as choosing their meals or picking out their clothes.
Offer safe ways to express feelings: Allow your child to talk, write, or draw pictures about the vent and their feelings.
Stick to routines: Regular routines can help children feel stable and secure.
Limit exposure: Limit your child's exposure to repetitive news reports about traumatic events.
Protect from re-exposure: Protect your child from re-exposure to frightening situations and reminders of the trauma.
Practice breathwork: Breathwork can help release stored emotions and create a sense of relaxation.
Grounding techniques: Grounding techniques can help calm the brain and body down when someone is triggered.
Be patient and calm: Be patient and calm when your child is clingy, whiny, or violent.

How could mental health therapy help your child?

If you feel overwhelmed by the though of helping your child through their trauma on your own, you're not alone. Although your child is the one who experienced the trauma first-hand, it is very common for the caregiver to also feel upset or overwhelmed by the trauma and how to go about moving forward. By involving your child in mental health therapy, you are able to partner with a mental health professional who is trained in the effects of trauma, helping you to better understand your child's needs. Therapy works with you and your child to learn new skills to help process thoughts and feelings related to the traumatic life event. You learn to manage and resolve distressing thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. In turn, you will gain understanding to enhance safety, parenting skills, and family communication.

Skills that are addressed in therapy, that may benefit your child following their trauma include:

Develop and/or improve emotional regulation skills
Strengthen positive attachments with caregivers
Improve ability to function normally in school and the community
Understand what healthy, safe relationships are
Reduce self-blame and feelings of guilt
Provide a safe supportive place to process traumatic experiences
Develop a sense of hope for the future

If you feel that mental health therapy may benefit your child, please call 501-676-2552 to talk with someone about the steps to enroll your child.