Trauma informed care is the process of making the change to incorporate in mental health and positive youth development into your core being. Through these practices we are able to work with children with challenging behaviors and change our perspective from "they are a bad kid" to "There are no bad kids, just lagging skills and unmet needs." Below you will find trainings and resources to help you in your journey of discovering trauma informed care and the practices that we teach at Kid Spirit.
Some children act out more than others, but it is always stressful for both the adult and the child when they do. It is important to address the child’s behavior in a way that they can understand. Children’s brains are different from adult brains, so we need to be able to communicate limits and consequences in a child-appropriate manner. Our favorite way to do this both in therapy and in the home is with the A-C-T model. It was developed by Dr. Garry Landreth, a leading figure in play therapy. It involves three simple, adaptable steps: Acknowledge the feeling, Communicate the limit, and Target acceptable alternatives.
In this video we will talk about how Trauma Informed Care mixes with Positive Youth Development to create the best classroom management techniques used at Kid Spirit.
This section covers children who have an unmet need and are using undesired behaviors to reach a common goal of getting their needs met. Trauma informed care principles lead to going from asking the "why did you do that" to "what happened to you that you needed to use that behavior to get your need met?" Also, described are the long lasting effects of stress on the body as well as how to deescalate children who are displaying crisis.
Autism Spectrum Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder overview which includes interventions of how to work with each specific diagnosis and general signs of each.
Brene Brown has a fabulous video on the difference between empathy and sympathy. This is a highly recommended video for all!
Collaborative Problem Solving provides collaboration between the child and the staff to create win-win situations. This five step process is part of trauma informed care practices that lead to increased empathy and understanding.