Children with Trauma History
Successful play therapy can help traumatized children by…
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Increasing emotional awareness and control over their feelings.
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Expressing built up emotions in a safe environment.
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Improving emotional and impulse regulation.
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Enhancing social connections, and developing better communication skills.
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Boosting confidence in social situations.
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Fostering empathy and respect for others.
Alongside weekly play therapy, I provide regular support for parents and carers. Taking care of children who experienced adversity can often cause burn out for their parents or carers. It is important for us to know about developmental trauma and its impact on the brain and their nervous system development, so we can see their behaviours from a different perspective, which helps us cultivate compassion towards their struggle. This new understanding will also help parents/carers to “respond” instead of reacting the child’s big behaviours.
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This is my area of passion and expertise, and I have an in-depth knowledge about developmental trauma and I am highly experienced in supporting complex cases.
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I also recommend Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) for children who experienced developmental trauma. SSP is a non-invasive auditory intervention that soothes and calms our nervous system. Children who experienced developmental trauma often have a heightened nervous system which won’t switch off (e.g., stay hypervigilant, or constantly fidgety or unsettled) and struggle to feel safe. Safe and Sound Protocol is a bottom-up approach that will help soothe their heightened nervous system, which leads to more regulation and connection.
Children who experienced developmental or complex trauma often exhibit symptoms that are big and scary to others. They may have experienced abuse, neglect or witnessed domestic violence. Many of them struggle with recurrent nightmares, inability to regulate their emotions and controlling impulses, communicating with others. They are often controlling, oppositional, angry, or withdrawn/flat.
Child centered play therapy is a gentle yet highly effective way of healing those children who experienced early adversity in their lives. It gives them the power to retell their stories at their own pace, which not only helps them to resolve their unprocessed trauma and make sense of their little world but also prevents them from re-traumatization. Through this insightful journey, they also find their voice, build more resilience and confidence.
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