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(Post Traumatic Stress Disorder)
We offer a professional counseling / counselling framework to help work through trauma, loss and PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder syndrome) in children, by means of a highly structured play therapy approach. To look at the issue and definition of trauma and children involves seeing them as survivors of either actual or vicarious traumatic events, either emotional, physical or sexual, sometimes in early childhood. The resulting effects of trauma may interfere with higher brain functions & can sometimes be mistaken for being ADD or ADHD. The intervention program, treating and treatment of / for trauma includes working through the shock, and sometimes facilitating the grieving process, bereavement and ability to mourn. The types, stages, steps, levels and phases of the grief process are worked through when applicable. Relief, overcoming, recovery and the healing of grief involve facing and dealing with the unresolved pain and anger rather than getting caught in an ongoing lifestyle of just coping with it as best one can. We will outline some of the reactions or symptoms of trauma in a symptom inventory checklist in the explanation section below.
If a child is old enough to laugh, she or he is old enough to be traumatized. Divorce, serious accidents, abuse, witnessing violence, or natural disasters can all traumatize children. Trauma can also occur vicariously when children hear of others who have been injured or killed. A traumatized child may experience some of the following symptoms: nightmares, afraid to sleep alone or be alone even for short periods of time, easily startled (terrorized) by sounds, sights, smells similar to those at the time of the event, hyper vigilant (frequently watching out for and anticipating danger), irritable, aggressive, forget recently acquired skills, withdrawal from friends, headaches, stomach problems, put themselves in life threatening situations, school behavior / behaviour problems, verbalize nothing scares them, pessimistic view of the future, loss of enjoyment in activities previously enjoyed (TLC, 1994). Trauma memories are stored in the midbrain and may interfere with higher brain functions involved in learning, attention, retaining and recalling information. Sometimes trauma symptoms may be mistaken for ADD or ADHD, because the way in which it manifests may be similar to these attention disorders. Because trauma is stored at a sensory level, sensory interventions are important to reprocess the trauma memories. A highly structured play therapy approach can help children process traumatic experiences, form a narrative about the traumatic experience, and reintegrate the traumatic experience.
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