Animal Questions
True or False: When playing with female puppies, male puppies will usually let the females win even when the males have the physical advantage.
True! Dogs are cute
What causes trauma?
The brain cannot make sense of something really bad, sad or scary.
What is one thing you learned in therapy?
So many answers can be true!
True or False: Nightmares are a common trauma reaction
True
What is the "off-switch" to our body's internal alarm system?
Relaxation!!! Breathing is usually the fastest "off-switch"
Can Kangaroos fart?
Nope!
What is avoidance?
When your brain tried to protect you by not thinking or talking about abuse.
What is one good memory of your father that you will always have with you?
(your answer here)
True or False: Feeling ashamed, guilty and bad about oneself is a common trauma symptom
True - often kids believe they are to blame for the trauma, but no kid deserves to be hurt even if they make a mistake.
What is fight, flight, freeze & surrender?
Our body's internal alarm system. It's how our brain and body reacts to scary or upsetting situations.
True or False: Nearly three percent of the ice in Antarctic glaciers is penguin urine.
True!!
What is an intrusive thought?
Bonus: how do you challenge an intrusive thought?
A thought that makes me feel upset that pops into my head even when I'm trying to do something else.
What is grief?
True or False: If you never talk about the bad thing that happened, it will go away and you will forget about it.
False: It's important to not avoid talking about the upsetting event because ignoring the memories/feelings causes other problems (eg. trauma reactions)
How is deep breathing different than normal breathing?
Deep breathing: deep in the belly, long breaths, holding on the in/out
Normal breathing: shallow, in the chest, shorter/quicker
What animal holds hands with their family when they sleep so they don't drift away?
Otters
How might a child feel when he has lost someone important to him.
Scared, mad, sad, or confused, etc.
What does it mean to be triggered?
It is when something (sound, smell, look, feeling, touch) reminds you of the trauma you experience which causes you to feel upset.
True or False: Feeling like a "bad kid" or feeling mean is a common trauma reaction
True: trauma makes it more difficult for kids to control their emotions, so sometimes these kids "act out." This is normal and doesn't mean that that child is a bad kid!
Describe how you can tell you are starting to feel upset/stressed/like you're about to explode. (ex. thoughts you have, feelings in the body)
Examples:
Thinking "I hate myself" makes me start yelling
Before I get really upset, I feel my fists clenching
Name the one animal in the world that can't jump
Elephants
"Gradually talking about a traumatic event so that the scary, sad, and bad thoughts go away"
What is this process called?
Trauma Therapy
Ex. You worked really hard and now the trauma reactions aren't as bothersome anymore.
True or False: "I can't control when I have trauma reactions, but I can control how I help make myself feel better"
True!
Walk the group through the "supersuit" (progressive muscle relaxation) exercise.
feet, legs, core, arms, shoulder, face