Childhood trauma M6 D

During this discussion, you will be asked to identify the possibilities and actualities of parent interventions by closely reading the “Story of Jack” (pp. 8-12), the “Story of Henry” (pp. 12-13) and the “Story of Sammy” (pp. 121-126) in our text by Levine & Kline (2007).

What did you learn from these three stories about how the parents may have discovered that their child was reacting to a trauma? In general, how can parents listen to and observe their children to discover whether (and how) their child is reacting to a traumatic event?
When should a parent be concerned about their child’s response to an event?
In each story above, identify which parent responses seemed to help the child, and what other practical things (if anything) could the parents have done to help?
When is it the right time to refer a child to therapy? Is it too soon, sometimes?
How can we engage with parents to assist if their problems are affecting their children?
As a counselor, how can we coach a parent to help their child heal from trauma?
Chose one of the above stories and explain how the child’s sense of safety, connection to attachment figures, and self-regulation were strengthened.
When you post to the discussion, you need to back up your opinion and responses by citing the following resources and use the APA citation to cite appropriately:

Alisic, E., Boeije, H. R., Jongmans, M. J., & Kleber, R. J. (2012). Supporting children after single-incident trauma: Parents’ Views. Clinical Pediatrics, 51(3), 274-282.
Child Welfare Information Gateway. (n.d.). “Parenting a child who has experienced trauma.” (PDF, 8 pages). Retrieved from the Children’s Bureau website, childwelfare.gov.
Ginsburg, K. R., & Jablow, M. M. (2020). Building resilience in children and teens: giving kids roots and wings. American Academy of Pediatrics. Or, Ginsburg’s website on fostering resilience with lots of useful material.

ANSWER

Childhood Trauma

Traumatic events can initiate strong physical reactions and emotions that can persist long, even after the experience. A child may feel helplessness, terror, psychological reactions, and fear, especially due to the inability to protect themselves. Parents discover that their children react to trauma through body and mind responses. Signs of internalized and externalized behavior and emotion after the normal responses among children (Levine and Kline, 2006). For instance, a child can develop avoidance behaviors, new fears, experience irritability, shutdown, withdrawal, and impulsive behavior. Therefore, a parent can discover that a child is traumatized through sleep patterns, play, exaggerated emotional responses, altered activity levels, and somatic complaints.

Parents should be concerned about their children’s response to an event with signs of trauma. When a child has signs of traumatic reaction or signals that a child requires more assistance, time, and reassurance, a parent must be concerned with the reactions to stressful events. For instance, a parent can be alert about how a child expresses themselves during playtime at preschool and home.

Children that are experiencing traumatic events need to feel loved and safe. Parents respond to trauma by acknowledging that child is experiencing trauma and reaching out for help. Offering a nurturing home for the children is an effective response. Reassurance is also key in helping children respond positively to their traumatic events. Creating an open environment where a child can share feelings with the parent can also help the child find healing. The right time to refer a child to therapy is when one realizes that a child is unresponsive to the efforts of the patent and other practical things that help cope with trauma.

A counselor can engage with parents through trauma-focused therapy, which can help the child develop and practice skills that help lower traumatic stress (Levine and Kline, 2006). By tracking changes in a child’s preference, the intensity and frequency of symptoms can help understand the child and re-establish routines that restore the child’s ability and minimize the effects of the traumatic events. Counselors can coach a parent on how they can build a child-parent relationship and interaction that can help children in healing.

One of the stories about Sandra explains how a child’s sense of safety, connection, and self-regulation were strengthened after parents’ and counselor interventions. Sandra was living with her extended family, which made her attached to her grandma, who offered nurturance, shelter, and safety (Levine and Kline, 2006). Everything changed when Sandra separated from her grandmother. She became so tense that she could not eat. She appeared sad, frightened, shut down, and with contradicted emotions. Through therapeutic sessions, there were remarkable changes after her strengthened sense of safety, connection, and self-regulation, which led to her eating again.

References

Levine, P. A., & Kline, M. (2006). Trauma through a child’s eyes: Awakening the ordinary miracle of healing. North Atlantic Books.