Resources and support for children and young people

[Scirocco]

Many of us will have children and other young people in our lives who are experiencing distress and traumatic events in relation to the events in the Middle East. That includes children living in the region and children elsewhere in the world who may be feeling the effects of these events in their community or in the media.

I thought it might be useful for us to have a thread to share resources and information about helping all our children feel safer and process trauma...

Here are a few links to start us off...

https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/mental-health/parents-and-young-people

https://mindedforfamilies.org.uk/Content/trauma_and_coping/#/id/5e3150ac12321b4bca7242d7

https://www.nctsn.org/resources/talking-to-children-about-war

https://www.youngminds.org.uk/young-person/blog/how-to-make-a-self-soothe-box/

Thanks scirocco 🙏

Thank you Scirroco, this is a very helpful idea for all sorts of families and children experiencing all sorts of traumas as well as those affected by this conflict.

The ‘self-soothe’ box is a particularly good idea I think and could be adapted even for very young children and in a simplified form if need be.

I am so sorry for all the children living in terror and unease, who ever they are or wherever it is, and their parents trying to make life safer for them in dreadful circumstances.

https://emdrfoundation.org/toolkit/butterfly-hug.pdf

EMDR therapy has some excellent self-soothing techniques. When dealing with trauma, talking therapy can sometimes be re-traumatising and I would recommend focusing on the physiological aspects of trauma first.

Obviously do not use it in the standard protocol as recommended on the link unless you are a qualified practitioner! Just stick to how to do the butterfly hug!