Trauma
What is trauma?
A scary, upsetting, confusing event that threatens or causes harm.
Trauma can be too much, too _____ or too little too ______
Fast
Long
Do you have an pet? If so, what's its name? If not, what pet would you want and why?
_______________
True or false: all people react the same way when experiencing trauma.
False. There are many common ways that kids/teens react to trauma, but they can still react in unique ways --- and they are all OK.
Physical, sexual, or emotional abuse can occur in all kinds of families.
Fact.
What is a type of trauma?
There are lots of kinds of trauma. Bullying, community violence, natural disasters (earthquakes, tornadoes, fires, floods), serious illness, physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, etc.
How common is abuse?
Kid and teens of all ages, genders, sexual orientations, races, ethnicities, and economic backgrounds can be physically, sexually, or emotionally abused. As many as 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 13 boys will experience child abuse before the age of 18.
What do you think of when you imagine yourself in 10 years?
How about 20 years?
True or false: By 16, teens should be able to manage their emotions and feelings about their trauma by themselves.
False. Everyone needs other people to support them in processing and managing the emotions that they have.
Trauma gets better over time
Myth and Fact- Trauma can improve with time, but time alone is rarely enough. While natural resilience means initial distress fades for many, unresolved trauma can linger in the brain and nervous system. True healing comes from actively processing the event and having support.
What are physical (body) responses to trauma or trauma triggers?
Physical symptoms of trauma include things like feeling tense, jittery, feeling like they can't stop moving, feeling like they can't move at all, feeling their heart racing, stomach aching, head aching, or other things.
What causes trauma?
Abuse, neglect, assault, racism, poverty, violence, natural disasters, illness, injury, and on and on.
Trauma isn't about what happened, its how prepared we were to emotionally process what happened to us and the support we had access to.
Tell me two things that you are looking forward to this summer.
Did you know? Sunshine is great for mental health.
What emotions do teens experience after a trauma?
Confusion, sadness, anger, numbness, relief, fear, anxiety, guilt, shame, etc.
Community, generational, and historical factors can cause trauma
Fact
What is a trauma trigger?
Anything that brings emotions or memories of the trauma. This can be something that you see, hear, feel, taste, smell, places, people, or activities.
Whose fault is it when physical or sexual abuse happens?
It is always the person who did the abusing is at fault, never the person who was abused.
If you had a million dollars, what would you buy?
If you were to spend $1,000 every single day, it would take you roughly 2 years and 267 days to burn through $1 million.
Why might people not feel relieved after telling a trauma?
It could be fear, reminding yourself about the trauma, feeling connected to the person who harmed you, worry that someone might get in trouble, feeling like telling didn't change anything, or any number of other reasons.
Talking about our abuse (whether physical, sexual, or emotional) will only make things worse.
Myth.
What are common experiences that kids have after experiencing a trauma?
Having upsetting memories come to mind, have scary or upsetting dreams, reliving or feeling like they are experiencing the trauma again, strong feelings, strong body responses, trying not to think about the trauma, staying away from things that remind them of the trauma, blaming themselves for what happened, feeling embarrassed or shame, having a hard to sleeping, not being able to trust other people, having a hard time remembering parts of the trauma, etc.
True or False: Things that happened to others cause us to experience trauma?
True. Trauma happens when our ability to cope with something is exceeded by our environment. Other people's experiences, especially people we are close to or when we witness a traumatic event, can cause trauma to us.
Tell me one fun fact about you
My fun fact is that I used to be a chef!
Why might kids be scared to talk about a trauma?
They worry that people won't believe them, that they will get in trouble, that someone else might get in trouble, etc.
Only life-threatening, catastrophic events cause trauma.
Myth
Trauma is highly subjective and less about the event itself and more about how your mind and body process it. While life-threatening events (like accidents or violence) can cause trauma, it can also stem from prolonged or repeated stress, bullying, or emotional neglect