A trauma-informed organization ensures that staff….
- UNDERSTAND what trauma is and how it impacts everyone within the system
- RECOGNIZE behaviors and patterns that reflect past or present trauma
- RESPOND in ways that avoid re-traumatization
Spaces within the therapeutic milieu
Ideological Physical Cultural Social Emotional
Setting Conditions
Anything that makes challenging behavior or traumatic stress responses more or less likely to occur.
Foundations for Intentional use of self
Self-awareness
Self-regulation
Self-care
Relationship skills and attunement
The triune brain
The Thinking brain
the Emotional brain
the Survival brain
Goals of crisis intervention
SUPPORT : provide immediate emotional and environmental support to reduce stress and risk and increase child’s sense of safety.
TEACH: help children learn and practice ways to regulate their emotions and behaviors
Stress model of crisis
Baseline-Triggering event-Escalation-Outburst-Recovery
Recovery phase outcomes
Higher
No Change
Lower
Four questions we ask ourselves in a crisis situation
- What am i feeling now?
- What does the child need, expect, or want?
- How is the environment affecting the situation.
- How do I best respond?
Behavior Support techniques
- Proximity
- Prompting
- Hurdle Help
- Redirection and distractions
- Directive statements
Strategies for emotional first-aid
- Co-regulate emotions
- Maintain the relationship and lines of communication
- Plan and anticipate
Elements of a potentially violent situation
The spark
The target
The weapon
Level of stress or motivation
What to do(Nonverbal strategies) During: Help me, help myself
- Take a deep breathe and slowly exhale
- Give the child space and time
- Use silence
What to say(Verbal strategies)
“That’s really frustrating. I can get why you are upset”
“You are very angry. Let’s take a walk so you can tell me what’s happenig.”
“I know we can work this out together”
“i’m sorry that happened”
Steps of the LSI
I- Identity a place and time to talk
E- Explore child’s point of view
S- Summarize feelings and content
C- Connect trigger to feelings and behavior
A- Alternative responses to feelings discussed
P- Plan developed/Practiced
E- Enter the child back into the routine
