Did you know that just learning to relax is key to trauma-informed intervention, resiliency and recovery from a variety of disorders? Dr. Roger Klein, expert on the impact of relaxation training with children and adolescents, presented a workshop “Helping Children and Teens Self-Regulate Using Imagery and Relaxation” at a recent trauma conference. In this presentation, Klein underscores that that there are many ways children and teens can learn to regulate their responses to stress and traumatic events. Additionally, using imagination along with relaxation activities and resilience-focused thinking, young people can learn to minimize their responses to every day stress and traumatic experiences.
Relaxation is a state of being in which there is an absence of tension and hyperarousal, two common reactions to stress or traumatic events. Roger Klein and other experts on trauma propose that practicing relaxation skills over time is a highly effective way to mediate and reduce the effects of stress on the body and mind. Without the ability to relax, we may stay locked in a “fight or flight” response; the latter leads to chronic feelings of anger, depression, panic, and burnout and even stress-related medical conditions. In other words, there are many benefits to practicing relaxation including reduced susceptibility to disease, improved concentration and most of all, increased happiness and life satisfaction.
Meditation is one form of relaxation and is often defined as a form of mindfulness, the bringing of one’s complete attention to the present experience on a moment-to-moment basis. Mindfulness meditation has been studied for several decades and has proven to be effective in the treatment of pain, anxiety, stress and even addictions. Many trauma specialists now regularly apply some form of mindfulness practice in work with clients of all ages, including children, because of the outstanding evidence indicating that meditation actually “changes” our brains in positive ways. Mindfulness expert Jon Kabat-Zinn developed a now widely used protocol called Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) to treat chronic stress and the illnesses that repeated exposure to psychological trauma causes, including high blood pressure, heart disease and weakened immune system functioning.
Just recently researchers at University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) found that certain areas in the brains of individuals who meditated for many years were larger than those individuals who did not engage in regular meditation. They also found that those people who meditate have more gray matter and show less age-related brain atrophy (weakening), suggesting that meditation may be good for everyone because our brains naturally shrink in size over our lifespan. In follow-up studies, these researchers found that the benefits of meditation are not isolated to one part of the brain, but involve many parts including the cortex, limbic system and brain stem.
When it comes to children, some readers may ask, “Well, how do we successfully adapt what is known about meditation, mindfulness and relaxation to young people?” One popular technique I have used with children for many years is called “Lion’s Breath” and uses an imaginative metaphor (the lion’s roar) to help young people learn the same relaxation skills that teens and adults may learn through traditional methods and yoga breathing:
“I am going to teach you about a way to let go of worries or thoughts that might be bothering you. It’s called the Lion’s Breath and I want you to imagine you are a lion. Remember, a lion has a really, really big roar—can you roar? Now I want you to sit up with your legs crossed; if you feel more comfortable sitting up against a wall with your legs crossed, go ahead and do that (some children feel safer with their backs against a wall). Now, get ready to make your roar! Let’s try one all together as a group (we all roar in unison).
Before we roar again, let’s all think of a worry that we would like to let go off. For a minute I want you to watch me and see how I roar. First, I am going to take in a really, really deep breath through my nose and then let my roar out through my mouth, sticking my tongue out at the same time and stretching out my arms out as far as I can in front of me. Let’s all try it together, okay?” (Leader and children perform the breathing and roaring together, sticking out their tongues and stretching out arms) (Malchiodi, 2000, p. 14).
Repeat this activity several times; inevitably the deep breathing, roaring and stretching lead to a child-friendly (and fun) form of relaxation. For more information on relaxation with children and teens, visit Roger Klein’s website.
Be well,
Cathy Malchiodi, PhD, LPAT, LPCC
References
Malchiodi, C. (2000). Creative activities manual for children from violent homes. Salt Lake City, UT: WIJ Publications.
The statistics on homelessness in the United States are astounding. According to the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) (2011), more than 1.3 million children are homeless at some time each year and on the average day, at least 800,000 Americans, including 200,000 children are without a home. These individuals have also encountered trauma before becoming homeless and homelessness itself can exacerbate or re-traumatize children and adults. Ultimately, it is an experience that has powerful effects not only on individuals and families, but also on our neighborhoods and communities.
Homelessness affects individuals of all ages and in all areas of the US; it disproportionately affects people of color and single parent families, but it also impacts people of all ethnicities. For children, the loss of a stable home environment may include loss of pets and possessions, previous routines, school changes, and lack of privacy, compounding the stress related to homelessness. There can be additional stresses too, including abrupt separation, interpersonal or domestic violence, or illness that add to emotional challenges and risk for increased trauma reactions. Children may experience higher incidence of ear infections, asthma attacks and stomach problems; may develop learning and cognitive difficulties; and may have emotional problems that require professional intervention, but frequently go without recognition or treatment. According to NCTSN, by the time homeless children are 8 years old, one in three has a major emotional disorder. Additionally, trauma-related symptoms make recovery more difficult for these youngsters.
A recent episode of CBS’s 60 Minutes addresses how children are impacted by sudden homelessness in the U.S. and highlights the unique challenges children and families face when displaced from home and familiar routines. If you missed this compelling episode, take a few minutes to watch it and hear firsthand accounts from children who are confronting the realities of homelessness in their daily lives:
So what can we do to help homeless children and families? Here are just a few evidence-based, trauma-informed, and resilience-focused practices:
Work to ensure that children and families are not re-traumatized after entering a shelter or program;
Respond in trauma-informed ways to support resilience and empower individuals;
Provide safe and non-threatening environments that maximize choice and control for individuals;
Model positive behavior, maintain clear boundaries, allow participants to make decisions and share power, and respond with cultural sensitivity;
Help children and adults learn skills to self-regulate and reduce trauma reactions;
Provide support for both emotional and physical health, adaptive coping, and culturally appropriate services that address trauma and the experience of homelessness;
Above all, help children and families become survivors and eventual “thrivers” who are capable and empowered to overcome challenges and move forward with hope and dignity.
Be well,
Cathy Malchiodi, PhD, LPCC, LPAT
Reference
National Child Traumatic Stress Network. (2011). FactsonHomelessandChildren. Retrieved on June 28, 2011 at http://www.nctsn.org.
On July 12th, at the Annual National Institute for Trauma and Loss in Children Summer Assembly, keynote speaker Jeff Georgi will talk about “The Adolescent Brain,” including a number of intervention strategies to help adolescents with trauma-related substance abuse, obesity and eating disorders. But why should trauma specialists know more about the adolescent brain in particular? Those of you who work with teenagers might be thinking, “how do you ever know exactly what is going on in an adolescent’s brain anyway?” I have also heard many a parent say, “I think my teenager must be an alien from another planet. This is not the same child I knew a few years ago.” Teenagers’ behaviors continue to mystify and often frustrate both helping professionals and families and we often associate their responses with the need to be autonomous or raging hormones. In reality, what science can now tell us about the adolescent brain is changing how we think about teenagers and reframing how we can best intervene with those at risk.
While most of the human brain develops by age six years, neuroscience tells us that some of most significant spurts of growth occur just around the adolescent years. In particular, the area of the brain called the prefrontal cortex [the part of the brain related to organization, planning, memory, and executive functions] grows just before puberty. In essence, as this area develops more fully, young people are more able to control impulses, make good judgments, and improve reasoning. The cerebellum is another part of the brain that changes, too; it supports physical coordination and complements the cortex’s functions in decision-making, logic and social skills. In brief, the complex circuitry of the human brain is not mature until our early 20s.
Because it was once thought that all brain development essentially happened before age 6, researchers were initially surprised that the brain continued to grow through adolescence. More importantly, some neuroscience researchers believe this is a particularly important time for brain development. Neuroscientist Jay Giedd underscores that what tens do or don’t do can impact them during the rest of their lifespan. For example, an adolescent who is playing a musical instrument, painting pictures, engaging in sports, or mastering a language is hardwiring those interests and skills; in contrast, Giedd notes that the teenager who is lying on the couch or constantly absorbed by computer games are hardwiring a different set of brain connections.
Teenage brains also are still learning how to perceive emotion and do so differently than adult brains. Researchers have concluded that adolescents and adults actually use a different part of their brains to process feelings; adults use the frontal cortex, while teens use the amygdala [limbic system, the area of our brains that is related to instinctual response]. As adolescents become adults, the way feelings are perceived moves from the amygdala to the cortex.
So how do we apply this knowledge to work with teenagers and particularly those who are challenged by traumatic experiences or substance abuse and addictions? First, we know that adolescent behaviors are not just the result of raging hormones or simply the need for independence. More importantly, the brain is a lot more “plastic” (flexible and pliable) than was previously thought, opening up possibilities for intervention based on emerging knowledge.
For information on Jeff Georgi’s keynote and to register for this summer’s Assembly, visit the 2011 Practitioners’ Assembly webpage. During his two decades at Chapel Hill Medical Center in North Carolina, Jeff held clinical appointments in the Departments of Surgery, Obstetrics, and Psychiatry. He remains a clinical associate in the Department of Behavioral Medicine as well as a faculty member of the Duke University School of Nursing. He has contributed to a number of Treatment Improvement Protocols that are part of the best practice guidelines by the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment in Washington, DC. You will not only learn more about the adolescent brain, but you’ll also take away a toolkit of practical interventions and strategies to use in your work with teens.
It’s time to make your plans to attend the 2011 TLC’s Childhood Trauma Practitioner’s Assembly from July 12 to 16th! The Assembly will be held at the Macomb County Intermediate School District’s (MISD) new Educational Service Center. MISD is located at 44001 Garfield Road, Clinton Township, Michigan 48038-1100. This year’s program is about practices that are both trauma-informed and resilience-focused; some are evidence-based, others evidence-supported, as not all evidence-based interventions are appropriate for all traumatized children. Here are some of the leading edge presentations this year:
Relationship & Neurobiological Integration Part 1 Many children of trauma experience changes in brain structure and brain chemistry. This workshop is focused on providing strategies through the caregiver’s relationship to create new pathways for the healing of a child’s body and mind system. We will look at how behavioral approaches discriminate against children with neurodiversity issues. A relational paradigm will then be introduced, and you will be provided with several strategies including: co-regulation, time in, the three A’s (attunement, affection and attention), self exploration, playfulness and humor, acceptance, presence, containment, being a sensory detective, physical affection, entering pain pathways, limbic resonance, the neurophysiological feedback loop, transitional time in, multi-sensory feedback, rupture and repair, collaborative communication, non-verbal communication and many more. Here are just a few of the offerings at this summer’s Assembly:
Group Strategies and Interventions with Youth Exposed to Domestic Violence Participants will learn practical tools and important themes to consider when working with youth exposed to domestic violence. In addition, content presented will help participants gain a trauma-informed understanding about how these strategies and interventions promote safety, emotional expression, coping, validation, and normalizing related to working with youth from violent homes. Participants will also engage in activities and experientials to enhance their awareness and insight about the benefits of using hands-on and creative interventions in group work with traumatized youth.
What Really Gets Worked Out in the Sandtray? Sand, images and the sandtray help create a “safe and protected space” for the builder. This psychodynamic process can be part of a nondirective or directive experience. Participants will see video clips including “Sandtray Storytelling” and a clip of how sandtray was utilized in schools with children whose parents worked in the Twin Towers as shown on the New York cable show, Frontiers in Psychotherapy.
No Bullies-No Victims: Trauma-Informed Bullying Prevention for K-12 This presentation will explore the bullying happening in schools and on the internet and explore specific, effective strategies at the organizational and student levels. Participants will be provided with a workbook outlining those strategies that can then be transferred to their organization or counseling practice. Emphasis will be on building students’ strengths by giving them the skills and strategies they need to prevent the bullying from happening and to deal with it when it does. Participants will also be given strategies for managing the environment and working with school staff and parents in order to help this transformation.
And of course, we hope you will join us for the keynote and full-day courses [to be described in a future post] to become certified in the use of TLC’s school and agency-based SITCAP® programs or, if already certified, to learn additional strategies presented by practitioners in a variety of 3-hour workshops.
The recent and ongoing disaster in Japan once again brings up the question– just how do helping professionals assist children after an acute traumatic event like an earthquake or tsunami? Here are some recommendations:
Establish and maintain close relationships with trusted adults. Even under the most adverse circumstances, most children and adolescents can cope as long as they have connections to adults, including helping professionals and caregivers. Young people who have someone they know is concerned about their well-being, provides them with guidance, structure and information, and spends frequent time with them do better than those who do not have such relationships. While parents are usually the source of support, others (counselors, teachers, childcare staff) can also supply a sense of meaningful connection.
Insure a sense of safety. All children need to feel safe, but particularly those under stress. In acute trauma situations like disasters, sharing knowledge of what is being done to help everyone be safe and secure is important. Many individuals have a tendency to worry more than usual after a catastrophe or negative event; for example, some children believed that airplanes could hit their homes after the events of September 11, 2001. Helping professionals and caregivers can assist them by providing age-appropriate and realistic information to reduce undue fright, anxiety or obsessive thinking. Monitoring children’s exposure to violent images or reports of death or disaster will also reduce feelings of vulnerability and the sense that “it is happening again” when, in fact, there may no longer be a threat.
Practice self-regulation techniques. Knowing a method or two to relieve emotional and physical tension can enhance and build resilience over time. Play is a natural form of self-regulation if it calms and relieves the individual. Talking, drawing, making music or physical activities or sports can help, too. For children and adolescents who are anxious or showing signs of hyperarousal, many of the more well-known self-regulation activities and strategies (breathing, mindfulness, and muscle relaxation) are useful; mastery of a “resilience-building” skill also is positive resilience factor, in and of itself.
Encourage optimism. Traumatic events like disasters make it difficult to feel positive about the world; even children and adolescents who have a natural tendency to see a positive future can be emotionally shaken by certain events. Those individuals who believe that these events are temporary will do better than those who obsessively belief that things will not change for the better. It is extremely important that helping professionals and parents help children and adolescents develop a sense that they can effectively deal with stress.
Identify values and beliefs. Commonly used lists of resilience factors include several concepts that underscore the importance of values and beliefs in trauma informed practice. Individuals who are altruistic, for example, and seek to help others in need build personal resilience and reduce depression and anxiety in the process. Values that involve connection to others are particularly important because they reinforce connection to a larger group and emphasize the welfare of others. After a traumatic event, beliefs about religion or spirituality are also a source of resilience for some individuals; trauma informed practitioners can help identify these beliefs within a framework of cultural sensitivity for individuals’ and families’ preferences for sharing information on religious or other practices.
Practice all of the above. This list of recommendations began with the importance of relationships in resilience-building after a traumatic event, underscoring that one of the most significant factors in resilience and trauma recovery is a meaningful relationship with either a parent or a helping professional. In order to make that possible, parents and professionals must be able to be available and supportive. Practitioners must make sure that they are feeling safe, calm, well-rested, and in good emotional health in order to implement the resilience-building strategies in this list. Practitioners can also help parents/caregivers understand and practice these same principles so that they can be available and supportive to their children.
Finally, it is important to look for any trauma reactions even months after exposure to an acute event; it is common for individuals of any age to begin experiencing symptoms 2 to 3 months after the occurrence. Anxiety, depression, avoidance of certain situations, problems with cognition and concentration and irritability can signal that some resilience-enhancement is in order. If reactions persist, professional assessment may be appropriate to make sure children and adolescents retain the ability to function at home, school, and with peer groups.
In a previous post in September 2010, I discussed some concepts pertaining to “trauma informed art therapy.” Over the past few months, Dr. William Steele and I have been working on a new book called Trauma Informed Practices with Children and Adolescents. How we apply trauma informed principles to assessment and evaluation of children and teens is an important part of this book. Trauma informed practices do not only apply to interventions, relationships, and environments inherent to our work with traumatized young people; we also can apply these principles to how we evaluate individuals, especially those who have experienced chronic abuse, neglect, interpersonal violence, and other challenges during their lives.
There are several excellent trauma informed assessments that evaluate multiple dimensions, including physical and medical status, cognition, psychosocial issues, and the impact of trauma itself. However, how do we capture additional information that may be missed through standardized, paper and pencil assessments or parental, caretaker, or professional observations? Trauma informed assessment also includes evaluation of the sensory experiences of children—in other words, how the mind and body respond to traumatic events and the flight, fight, or freeze responses of the individual. It also includes the recognition that these responses are adaptive coping strategies rather than pathological reactions.
I also believe that trauma informed assessment includes an evaluation of how traumatic events may have impacted neurodevelopment. Neurodevelopment is a term used to describe how the brain develops over the first 20 years or so of the lifespan, from infancy through adolescence into young adulthood. Bruce Perry (2006) and others have presented comprehensive theories about what neurodevelopment and specifically, neurosequential development entail.
In order to fully understand and evaluate sensory responses in young clients, sensory-based methods of assessment are necessary. These can include many types of action-oriented activities, but the most widely applied involve art and play-based protocols, many of which are found in the fields of art therapy and play therapy. Why art and play? Because for children and adolescents who may not be comfortable with standardized, more cognitively-based assessments, they have an opportunity to use materials, media, toys, and props to give us a series of snapshots about their experiences, trauma reactions, and worldview. Because there are identifiable developmental sequences for play and art expression over the first decade of life, applying this knowledge to child clients provides another way to use the senses to engage individuals in treatment. And, as most of you already know, art and play are child-appropriate forms of communication that allow for a wide-range of expression and for many, a way to tell us about their terrors when words are not available.
Finally, in using sensory means to conduct assessments (especially in a trauma informed, culturally sensitive way), isn’t it nice that many children will find a degree of self-soothing in using toys, paint, or props to communicate their perceptions, feelings, and experiences to you? This is one of the core principles of trauma informed work—to create a sense of safety through all interactions and to capitalize on positive relational aspects between helping professionals and young clients as much as possible. Look forward to reading more about this topic as Bill Steele and I finish up the book!
Until next time, be well,
Cathy Malchiodi, PhD, LPAT, LPCC
Reference
Perry, B.D. (2006) The Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics: Applying principles of neuroscience to clinical work with traumatized and maltreated children In: Working with Traumatized Youth in Child Welfare (Ed. Nancy Boyd Webb), The Guilford Press, New York, NY, pp. 27‐52.
Safran and Safran (2008) note that victims of bullying can benefit from opportunities to express themselves in a safe, creative way. In particular, art expression offers opportunities to communicate and explore more deep-seated feelings about being bullied, emotions that may not be addressed in school-based anti-bullying programs. Fear, worry, confusion, and rage toward the perpetrator and some well-meaning teachers and counselors who fail to protect the victim may emerge in a drawing or collage before articulated with words.
Safran and Safran recommend individual and/or group art therapy for bullying victims; they emphasize that drawing can be one way to eventually explore self-image, perceptions of bullies, and a trauma narrative. The latter is particularly important with those children who can benefit from telling their stories and sharing their images with either the helping professional (Malchiodi, 2001) or with peers who may be able to empathize with the victim.
Collage is another medium I frequently use with older children and adolescents. To begin any collage activity, do some preparation work by collecting colored paper and many magazines; pre-cut a variety of images from the magazines to put into a “picture collage” box (Malchiodi, 2006). Be sure to include a wide range of images of people, environments, objects, and phrases/text and of course, remember to ensure that cultural diversity in present in these magazine photos. Avoid just handing out magazines to your client or group; pre-cutting the images will prevent your young clients from wasting time flipping through magazines rather than engaging in the activity of creating a collage.
At this point, many helping professionals often say, “create a collage that represents bullying and/or the victims of bullying.” That’s a relevant directive, but try to think about the topic of bullying more globally and create and use themes strategically. When working with adolescents, I like to use this directive—“create a collage that represents what the feelings of powerful and powerless mean to you.” If I am working with a group, I might initiate a short discussion about these two feelings and give them some options for how to construct the collages. I sometime suggest that, “you can fold your paper in half and put the images of powerful on one side and images of powerless on the other. Or, if you want to, you can mix them up in any way that you like.” For this activity, I generally supply 12 by 18 inch colored construction paper or poster board, glue sticks or white, non-toxic school glue, and scissors if appropriate.
After everyone finishes creating the collages, let each present their pictures to the group. Have each participant talk about at least one image in his or her collage that represents “powerful” and one that was chosen to show “powerless.” Depending on how the discussion unfolds, participants may want to share their own experiences with bullies, including whether they have been the targets of bullying (powerless) or been a bully (powerful). Encourage further exploration of how one can be powerful when confronted with bullying and other aspects of powerful-powerless dynamics.
There are many, many variations to this activity; what is important is that you consider your group’s needs and adapt this activity to meet those needs. If you missed the two previous blogs on bullying, see Bullying 101 and What is Relational Bullying for more information; remember TLC has an excellent online course on bullying and cyber-bullying, too. Next up: More creative interventions to help children and adolescents address bullying.
Malchiodi, C. (2006). The art therapy sourcebook. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Safran, D., & Safran, E. (2008). Creative approaches to minimize the traumatic impact of bullying behavior. In C. Malchiodi (Ed.), Creative interventions with traumatized children (pp. 132-166). New York: Guilford Press.
For several years, I worked in a large public high school in an alternative program for teenagers with behavioral and emotional difficulties. While the program itself was relatively small [less than 50 students], I often had only fifteen minutes or less to sit down with each adolescent and attempt to address their ongoing challenges. My supervisor, a school psychologist well-versed in work with adolescents, was even more frustrated than me; she very rarely had adequate time to spend with any one teenager because so many students needed assistance each day.
Sound familiar? If you are a school counselor who has literally hundreds of students in your charge or a social worker with an ever-increasing caseload at a mental health clinic or community agency, you know exactly what I am talking about. If you work as a therapist or counselor in a hospital or shelter, you may also encounter similar challenges—how to work quickly at bedside with a child in a matter of minutes or with the individual who may have a limited attention span because of trauma reactions or cognitive problems.
Caelan Kuban, LMSW and TLC Program Director and Clinical Consultant, offers two great examples of “one minute interventions” from the publication, One Minute Trauma Interventions, by Kuban and William Steele. Both activities address the critical issue of “worry,” a universal trauma reaction in most children and adolescents experiencing a trauma or loss, including those exposed to a single event. The first intervention can be used with school-age children and the second, with teenagers:
Activity Example #1: Worry Activity for Children(6 to 12 years)– Worry Beads
Large round beaded “necklace” graphic [included in the publication]
Directions: Ask the child to list one of his or her worries on each bead. Then, ask the child to color in the beads that represent the biggest worries.
Suggested Response from Helping Professional: Now that your worries are listed on the bead, you can keep this paper in a private place. I could even keep this here in my office. Instead of keeping all of those worries in your mind, they are right here on this paper. If one of your worries lessens or goes away you can “X” out that bead or even cut that bead and worry right off of this paper.
Activity Example #2: Worry Activity for Adolescents (13 to 17 years)– Iceberg
Large Iceberg graphic with penguin on top [included in the publication]
1) Top of Iceberg – What everyone knows about me.
2) Under surface ice – This is what not many people know about me.
3) Bottom of iceberg – This is what nobody knows about me.
Directions: Ask the adolescent to write his or her responses next to each part of the iceberg.
Suggested Response from Helping Professional: Everyone has things about them that many people know, and then there are things that only our very best friends know, and even some things about us that no one knows! That is okay. Some things are meant to remain private. But, if those things begin to bother you, it often helps to talk to someone you trust. Instead of keeping a secret that is bothering you, getting it out, even to one person can give you some relief and make you feel better.
For more information on this National Institute for Trauma and Loss in Children publication, click on this link to One Minute Trauma Interventions. This valuable book contains a collection of age-specific, sensory-based trauma intervention activities that focus on the major themes of trauma. It is designed especially for use with children and adolescents, ages 3 to 18 years, in school and agency settings when time is limited. All intervention activities take less than 20 minutes to complete.
Anyone who has experienced a traumatic event knows that it is only one part of life and that the sum of one’s life is much more than the event itself. Fortunately, in the first weeks and months after a trauma or loss most children and adolescents gradually recover and the event becomes less emotionally disruptive over time. But for others, painful memories of the traumatic event become a habitual way of reacting to life and tenacious feelings of anxiety, sadness, or even terror and posttraumatic stress disorder may take hold. On a daily basis these youngsters revisit worries and hurts, appear withdrawn, and are unable to enjoy normal activities with friends and family.
Currently, many helping professionals use verbal cognitive-behavioral techniques (CBT) to address trauma reactions. However, just talking to traumatized children and adolescents to change the way they think about themselves and their lives post-trauma will often be heard by them from a negative perspective, even though what is said is factual. TLC founder, Dr. William Steele, says, “Imagine saying to a traumatized adolescent, ‘Joey, what happened to you is horrendous. I can’t imagine what it’s all been like for you. What you need to tell yourself is that trauma is only one part of your life, there are many parts who make you who you are and trauma is just one part of your life.’
Listening to these words, traumatized Joey will hear, ‘Don’t be so upset, just move on.’ He is likely to be experiencing you as someone who is minimizing his experience, even frustrated by his being ‘stuck’ in it. However, if you present Joey with a sensory activity that engages the right brain and parts of the brain that tap the senses, he can begin to implicitly change his experience. By doing so, Joey sees himself differently than he would through cognitive attempts to help him reframe that experience.”
What Bill Steele is saying sounds simple, but it is a concept that many helping professionals miss when trying to address the needs of a traumatized child or adolescent. How we successfully recover from trauma is not by insight, but through our sensory experience of it because the body remembers it as a physical reaction, not just a narrative account. By using the senses to help young people reframe their experiences, there is a greater likelihood that they will be able to communicate the hurts, worries, and terrors. They also will start to view themselves as resilient and empowered individuals and survivors, not as victims.
Bill offers the following activity taught in TLC workshops to demonstrate how to facilitate cognitive understanding by including sensory experiences. This activity is adaptable to a variety of ages ranging from school age children to adolescents.
Many Parts Make Me Who I Am
Materials: 8” x 11” plain paper, pencil
1) Draw a line from the middle top of the page to middle bottom. Draw another line from upper left hand corner to lower right hand corner, then another line from upper right corner to lower left corner, and finally one more line from the middle of the left hand side of the paper to the middle right edge of the paper. The paper now has eight sections.
2) Now briefly recall a trauma in your life and choose a word or phrase that reflects that trauma. For example, for a car fatality you could use the word “car,” or death of a father, the word “dad.”
3) Write that word or phrase in one of the eight sections, any section.
4) Using the same process. think about the neat things that have happened in your life and write the word or phrase that reflects that neat thing in another section and do this until the remaining seven sections contain “neat” memories.
5) Now simply look quietly at what you just created. What thoughts now emerge about you and the trauma?
The two most common responses are, “There are more neat things than bad things,” and “trauma is only one part of my life.” These responses may seem obvious, yet the power of this simple activity is that you, the helping professional, have created a sensory “prop” that gives the child a visual (iconic) view of himself and his life. Now the youngster, with your help, can more easily cognitively reframe the belief that, “Trauma is only one part of life. “ Through sensory activities, children and teens can experience that there are many parts of life that make them who they are; with the help of the therapist or counselor, they can also begin to integrate the experience of trauma into other parts of life.
Sensory interventions can change the way we think about and perceive traumatic events; they can also eventually moderate how our bodies react to traumatic memories, reminders of loss, and other negative experiences. When those sensory activities are designed to address and alter major trauma reactions, “victim thinking” can be replaced by “survivor thinking,” followed by more resilient behavior.
All TLC intervention programs capitalize on sensory-based experiences and have undergone evidence-based research and evaluation documenting their value as a structured approach to reducing counterproductive trauma reactions and other mental health symptoms. The activity described in this post –and additional activities– can be found in Trauma Informed Practice and At Risk Adjudicated Adolescent Program at the TLC Online Bookstore or seminars. For training and/or additional information, be sure to visit www.starrtraining.org/tlc.
Did you know that just learning to relax is key to trauma-informed intervention, resiliency and recovery from a variety of disorders? Dr. Roger Klein, expert on the impact of relaxation training with children and adolescents, presented a workshop “Helping Children and Teens Self-Regulate Using Imagery and Relaxation” at a recent trauma conference. In this presentation, Klein underscores that that there are many ways children and teens can learn to regulate their responses to stress and traumatic events. Additionally, using imagination along with relaxation activities and resilience-focused thinking, young people can learn to minimize their responses to every day stress and traumatic experiences.
traumainformedtherapy 