When someone goes through a traumatic experience, it often has a reverberating effect. This can be especially complex in children, who don’t yet have the tools or skills to understand why they’re still feeling “off” many months, or even years, later.

Kelsy Kerrigan, LCPC, is an outpatient clinician at Riverside Healthcare’s Pathways Program. Here, she shares why trauma-informed approaches in a group therapy setting can be highly impactful in helping children heal.

Mitigating Trauma’s Impact

Today, experts better understand that trauma exposure impacts numerous aspects, including a person’s biology, neurology, psychology, development, and social capacity. Trauma-informed care, particularly in children, works to mitigate the impact and reduce any shame associated with the traumatic event. It also aims to break a cycle of revictimization and intergenerational issues.

“It really helps interrupt some of these cycles and get to the root cause, so children and adolescents can grow up to be healthy members of society,” states Kerrigan.

A key approach is to reframe how people view a trauma-affected child. Often, they ask questions like the following:

• What's wrong with you?
• Why are you being aggressive?
• Why are you being attention seeking?

A better statement is "What happened to you and what do you need?"

Trauma-Informed Strategies

In the group therapy setting, Kerrigan notes that she employs tactics like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), yoga, breath work, and sensory work, alongside play and art activities. Above all, she wants to ensure the kids always feel safe.

“We want them to feel connected to the adults in the room. That relationship is really key. We meet them where they're at, too. We're not going to force them to do anything. We're going to give them options while letting them know we're still the adults and we're in charge. We're going to take care of them no matter what,” she assures.

Sometimes, safety comes in the way of tangible actions. If a child is cold, they’re provided a jacket. If they’re hungry, the staff members make sure they get something to eat. Kerrigan also encourages kids to bring along items of comfort, such as a doll or photos.

Trauma-Informed Outcomes

One key benefit of a trauma-informed approach is improved self-regulation, which involves better controlling physical and emotional responses. This has a rippling effect into multiple areas of life, such as doing better in school, arguing less with family members, making and keeping friends, and playing appropriately with others.

Kerrigan and her staff also have weekly contact with the adults in their lives—from parents and other caregivers to school officials and Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) professionals. “It's essential to talk to the adults in their lives,” she advises. A good portion of these conversations include education surrounding trauma and trauma-informed care.

“Kids aren't bad, they're doing the best they can. If the adult can assume the child's doing the best they can and not being malicious or attention-seeking or trying to be controlling, they can then start to meet other needs kids have. Maybe they need to feel loved. Maybe they need to feel like things are predictable,” shares Kerrigan. “Knowing this helps adults interact differently with them.”

For more information about behavioral health services at Riverside click here.