Trauma in Childhood
What are some scary situations (traumas) that kids can experience?
Hurt physically
Touched inappropriately
Not taken to the doctor when sick
Hurt in an accident
Witnessed something scary happening to someone else
Safety is threatened
Learned about something scary happening to someone else
Made fun of or put down ALL THE TIME by family
True or False: Trauma changes the way our brain processes things
True!
True or False: School is a scary place for all kids
True or False: If someone is bullied, it means something is wrong with them
FALSE
True or False: The way I feel about myself and the world can change
TRUE
True or False: If I can't fully remember a scary situation, it must mean that it wasn't important.
False!
Its normal to forget some parts of scary situations. Sometimes our brain tries to protect us by hiding some parts of things. It doesn't mean that what happen didn't matter
What do we call our trauma response (what do we do) when we feel scared in a situation?
Fight, flight, or freeze
What are some reasons why children may not feel safe at school?
Bullying
Memories of bad things happening
Fears that someone will get hurt
Fears that I will get a bad grade
Believe that teachers are "not helpful"
Worries that something will happen to my family if I am not with them
True or False: Bullying only happens to children and teenagers
FALSE- Adults can be bullies too
True or False: Learning to manage my emotions means I will never be scared again
False- fear is important and helps us stay safe! We want to learn to notice fear when it happens but also feel confident making safe choices. These are things that we can learn in therapy!
True or False: A lot of kids go through scary situations
TRUE
About 60% of children experience an "adverse childhood experience" which can include trauma, but also parental divorce or experiencing homelessness
What are some emotions kids may feel after experiencing a scary situation?
Fear, anger, sadness, guilt, shame, frustration, confusion, overwhelm, numbness.... plus lots more
True or False: If I break a school rule on accident, my family will be mad at me
Let's check with the family!
Call them names
Hurt them
Say mean things about them
Tell others to say/do mean things to them
Text/post online mean things about them
Others too!
TF-CBT is a treatment that we will use to help cope with emotions, thoughts, and behaviors that occur after trauma.
In TF-CBT, we do things "gradually" and our skills "build" on each other. What do you think that means?
Gradually means that we do things slowly and we wait until we are ready to move forward.
Our skills "building" means that one skill might help us later. Although a later step might seem too hard- we will be pros by the time we get there!
What does PTSD stand for? Or, what does it mean?
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder- this is a diagnosis of some people that go through scary situations. Not everyone experiencing trauma will have PTSD- so do! It is not important if you have it or not, we focus more on the types of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that come after a scary situation
What are some ways that things change for kids after something scary happens?
Avoidance
Intrusive Thoughts
Exaggerated Emotions
Changing Thoughts about Self/World/Others
What are some reasons that kids are afraid to defend themselves/set a limit with others at school?
Get in trouble with family
Get in trouble with teachers/teachers won't like me anymore
Other kids will be afraid of me
Not knowing how to stand up for yourself
What are some reasons that someone would be a bully?
The bully feels bad about themself
The bully wants to feel powerful
The bully is trying to make friends by being mean to you (not a good way to make friends)
Why do you think it is important that we talk about the scary things that happen to us?
Sometimes this is a way for us to get help and stop the bad things!
We can also learn how to cope and get through difficult emotions and thoughts.
We can feel better when we don't "push down" our feelings. It's important to get support so that we feel better and can do the things that we want to do!
What are some reasons that kids don't talk about the scary things that happened to them?
Fear of being picked on
Fear that people will think they made it up/won't believe them
Fear that people will blame them for what happened
Guilt or shame about what happened
Not knowing how to explain it
Want to avoid thinking about it/Want to forget it
What are some thoughts kids might have after a scary experience?
My fault
I should have done more
I deserve that
People are evil
The world is not safe
Many more!
Why is it important for kids to feel safe at school?
Go there everyday
We need to feel safe to be able to learn
All kids deserve to feel safe when they are home or away from home!
What are some thoughts that children have when they are bullied?
I am a bad person
There is something wrong with me
Nobody likes me
School is a bad place
I will never have friends
I am not safe
I want to fight them back
Who can I ask for help if I have a hard time with this treatment?
My therapist
My trusted adults (let's identify them)