• Experiencing bystander guilt, shame, feelings of self- doubt. • Being preoccupied with thoughts of children outside of work. • Over-identification with the child. • Loss of hope, pessimism, cynicism. • Distancing, numbing, detachment, cutting off from children, staying busy. • Avoiding listening to child’s story of traumatic experiences • Difficulty in maintaining professional boundaries with the child For those reasons, it is important we understand our own needs and how to take care of ourselves. Understanding Our Own Needs All of us at Hillcrest Children’s Services, both adults and children, have basic human needs which need to be taken care of in order for us to survive and thrive. According to Maslow (1943; 2013) these needs fall within a hierarchy as shown in the diagram below: Introduction Developmental Trauma is defined as a psychologically distressing event that occurs during a child’s development and is outside the range of usual human experience, often involving a sense of intense fear and helplessness (Perry, 2011). These traumatic experiences can have profound impacts on the child’s behaviour. In the context of trauma, these behaviours can be described as ‘functional’, as they enable the child to meet their basic human needs at the time of the traumatic experience. Secondary Trauma Trauma can also ripple through the people and systems around the child. People exposed to traumatic material and/or empathically engaging with a child who has experienced trauma are at risk of secondary, or ‘vicarious’, traumatisation. The signs that you may be being influenced by secondary trauma include: • Experiencing lingering feelings of anger, rage and sadness about the child’s experiences. • Becoming overly involved emotionally with the child. The Importance of Self-Care when Working with Traumatised Children Authors: Heather Lawson and Chelsea Cade, Assistant Clinical Psychologists at Hillcrest Children’s Services HillcrestChildrensServices HillcrestChildr
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• Experiencingbystanderguilt,shame,feelingsofself-doubt.
• Beingpreoccupiedwiththoughtsofchildrenoutsideofwork.
• Over-identificationwiththechild.
• Lossofhope,pessimism,cynicism.
• Distancing,numbing,detachment,cuttingofffromchildren,stayingbusy.
• Avoidinglisteningtochild’sstoryoftraumaticexperiences
• Difficultyinmaintainingprofessionalboundarieswiththechild
Forthosereasons,itisimportantweunderstandourownneedsandhowtotakecareofourselves.
Understanding Our Own NeedsAllofusatHillcrestChildren’sServices,bothadultsandchildren,havebasichumanneedswhichneedtobetakencareofinorderforustosurviveandthrive.AccordingtoMaslow(1943;2013)theseneedsfallwithinahierarchyasshowninthediagrambelow:
IntroductionDevelopmentalTraumaisdefinedasapsychologicallydistressingeventthatoccursduringachild’sdevelopmentandisoutsidetherangeofusualhumanexperience,ofteninvolvingasenseofintensefearandhelplessness(Perry,2011).Thesetraumaticexperiencescanhaveprofoundimpactsonthechild’sbehaviour.Inthecontextoftrauma,thesebehaviourscanbedescribedas‘functional’,astheyenablethechildtomeettheirbasichumanneedsatthetimeofthetraumaticexperience.
Secondary Trauma
Traumacanalsoripplethroughthepeopleandsystemsaroundthechild.Peopleexposedtotraumaticmaterialand/orempathicallyengagingwithachildwhohasexperiencedtraumaareatriskofsecondary,or‘vicarious’,traumatisation.Thesignsthatyoumaybebeinginfluencedbysecondarytraumainclude:
• Experiencinglingeringfeelingsofanger,rageandsadnessaboutthechild’sexperiences.
• Becomingoverlyinvolvedemotionallywiththechild.
The Importance of Self-Care whenWorking with Traumatised Children
Authors:HeatherLawsonandChelseaCade,AssistantClinicalPsychologistsatHillcrestChildren’sServices
HillcrestChildrensServices HillcrestChildr
Self-AwarenessChildrenwhohaveexperiencedtraumaarehighlysensitisedtothereactionsoftheadultsaroundthem.Itisimportantthatweareawareofourresponsesandareabletorecognisewhenourinternalexperiences(asaresultofworkorhomeevents)maybeimpactingthewayinwhichweinteractwiththechildren.Itisimportanttorecogniseourthoughts,bodysensationsandexpressionsandreflectonwhatmayleadyoutorespondinaparticularway.Ofparticularimportanceisrecognisingwhenwemaybeexperiencingthesignsofsecondarytraumaandensuringthatwearetakingcareofourselves.NewellandMacNeil(2010)reportedthatworkersneedtobeself-aware,butalsohavegoodself-carepractices.
Inaddition,abigpartofself-careisself-compassion.Itcanbeeasytogetintoanegativecycleofself-judgement,however,itisessentialtoextendkindnessandunderstandingtoyourselfratherthanbeingself-critical.Viewyourexperiencesaspartofthelargerhumanexperience.Onewaytoencouragethismightbetotakea‘helicopter’view,lookingatthingsfromtheoutsideandtakingastepbackwhenyouneedtoandbemindful,holdingyourthoughtsandfeelingsinbalanceratherthanover-identifyingwiththem(Neff,2003).Self-awarenessenablesustobeattunedwithouremotionalandphysicalwellbeing.
Everyday Self-CareEn
Engaginginevery-dayself-carecanbeagoodstartingpoint,eventhoughmostofusknowabouttheimportanceofeatinghealthyandengaginginphysicalactivity,thesethingscaneasilyslip.Awaytoremembertheseskillsistoremembertheterm‘PLEASEMASTER’:
1. Treat‘PhysicalIllness’:Takecareofyourbody.Seeadoctorwhennecessary.
2. Balanced‘Eating’:Trytoeatabalanceddietandavoideatingfoodsthatwillgiveyourushofsugarasthisoftenleadstoa‘sugarlow’whichcanleaveyoufeelinglethargicandlowinmood.Beginyourdaywithslowreleasefoodsthatwillkeepyourenergyandmetabolismstablethroughouttheday.Foodshouldnourishyourbody!
3. Avoid‘MoodAlteringDrugs’:Avoidtheuseofnon-prescribeddrugsandminimisealcoholintakeasthesesubstancescanaffectourmood.
4. Balanced‘Sleep’:Trytogettheamountofsleepthathelpsyoufeelgood.Mostadultswillneedbetween6-8hours.Keeptoasleeproutinebygoingtobedatasimilartimeandwakingupatsimilartime.
5. Get‘PhysicalExercise’:Trytoincorporatesomekindofmovementintoyourdaywhetheritbeintheformofexerciseorjusttakingawalk.Itcanburnoffexcessadrenaline,releasemood-enhancingendorphinsandhelpyousleepbetteratnight.
6. AchieveMastery:Trytodoonethingadaytomakeyourselffeelcompetentandincontrol.
Physiological:Basicphysicalrequirementslikefood,water,sleepandwarmth,whicharecriticalforsurvival.
Safety: Theneedtohavestructure,controlandorderinourlifetoinducefeelingsofsecurity.
Love/Belonging:Socialneeds:includingbeingloved,belongingandfeelingaccepted,whichcomesfromrelationshipswithothers.
Esteem:Feelingappreciatedandrespected,i.e.havingeffortsrecognisedandfeelingvalued.Thisincludesself-esteemandpersonalworth,whichcanbeachievedthroughthingslikepersonalhobbiesorworkactivities.
Self-Actualisation:Self-actualisationisahigherstateofpsychologicalwellbeingandcanonlybeachievedoncetheotherneedsinthehierarchyaremet.
Self-CareLearningandlivingalongsidechildrenwhoareaffectedbydevelopmentaltraumacantriggeruncomfortableandperhapschallengingfeelingsinourselves.Howeveraddressingthesefeelingsinourselvesisoftennotseenasapriority.Therefore,self-careisavitalcomponentofworkingwithtraumatisedchildren.Oftenwithinorganisationalcontexts,self-carecanbeneglected.Themythssurroundingself-carecanoftencontributetopeoplenotprioritisingthis,whichcanleadtoanunhelpfulcycleofblockedcareandsecondarytrauma.Examplesofthesemythsinclude:
“Puttingyourselffirstisselfish…”
“Discussingtheemotionalimpactofyourworkmakesyouweak…”
“Givingyourselftime-outmakesyoubadatyourjob…”
Movingawayfromsuchmythsandengagingingoodself-carepracticeisvitaltoallowingyoutoprocessyourownemotionalresponses(inrelationtosecondarytrauma)whichcaninturnallowyoutobemoreeffectiveinyourrolewhilstcaringorinteractingwithtraumatisedchildren.
HillcrestChildrensServices HillcrestChildr
thatweareallhumanandwecannot‘runonfumes,’weallneedtobereplenishedandtakecareofourselves.
References• Maslow,A.H.(1943).Atheoryofhumanmotivation.
Psychologicalreview,50(4),370.
• Maslow,A.H.(2013).Atheoryofhumanmotivation.SimonandSchuster.
• Newell,J.M.,&MacNeil,G.A.(2010).Professionalburnout,vicarioustrauma,secondarytraumaticstress,andcompassionfatigue.BestPracticesinMentalHealth,6(2),57-68.
• Hesse,A.R.(2002).Secondarytrauma:Howworkingwithtraumasurvivorsaffectstherapists.ClinicalSocialWorkJournal,30(3),293-309.
• Perry,B.D.(1999).Stress,trauma,andposttraumaticstressdisordersinchildren.ChildTraumaAcademyMaterials,2(5).ChildTraumaAcademyInterdisciplinaryEducationSeries.
• SelfCareQuiz-https://education.cu-portland.edu/blog/just-for-fun/quiz-new-year-resolution/
• Self-CareforChildren-https://education.cu-portland.edu/blog/classroom-resources/self-care-for-teachers/
• Self-CareChecklist-https://www.hillcrestchildrensservices.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Self-Care-Checklist.pdf
Pro-Active Self-CareYoucanalsobemoreproactiveinyourself-carebothatworkandathome.Athomepracticessuchasregularyogaormeditationcanhelptoreducethestressresponsesinyourbody.Mindfulbreathingcanalsohelpreturnyourbodytoastateofcalmandbeatimetoallowyoutoreflectuponyourday.Maintaininggeneralself-caremayalsoinvolvetheuseofpositiveformsofself-expression,suchasdrawing,painting,sculpting,cooking,oroutdooractivities(Hesse,2002).
Self-carestrategiescanalsobeimplementedwithintheworkplace.Supportingchildrencanseemlikea24hrjobhoweveritisnotyourresponsibilitytobeavailable24hoursaday;thatisaresponsibilityyousharewiththerestofyourteam.Thefollowingisalistofstepstotakebetterself-careatwork.Thinkofthisasastarterlistwhichcanbeadaptedasyoubecomeawareofyourownself-careneeds.
1. Setandmaintainprofessionalboundaries-separateworkandhomeandavoidtakingworkhomewithyou.
2. Balanceyourworkscheduleandlifedemandssonoonedayoroneweekistoomuch.
3. Maketimethroughouttheworkdayforintermittentself-carebreaks(i.e.lunchorafternoonwalk;socialtimewithco-workers;listentorelaxingmusic).
4. Createahealthyworkspaceforyourself(e.g.tidydesk,tidymind).
5. Developashortlist(2-3items)oftopprioritieseachdaywhichyoucanrealisticallyachieve.
6. Minimizeprocrastinationandmaximizeasenseofcontrol.
7. Beforecommittingtosomething,consideryourneedsandavailableresources,andwhetheritwillleadtooverextendingyourself.
Theseareallstrategiesthatyoucantakeresponsibilityforyourselfbutcanalsobeimplementedacrossyourstaffteam.Pleasefindalinktotheself-carechecklistresourcebelow.Thisisavailableforyoutoprinttothinkaboutyourownself-careactivitiesandincorporatingmoreintoyourweeklyroutine.
ConclusionCaringfortraumatisedchildrenisbothachallengingandrewardingjobbutitisimportanttorecognisethatyoucannot‘pourfromanemptycup’.Tobeabletobethebestcareroreducatorforthesechildren,youneedtobetakingcareofyourself.Thiswillnaturallyleadtoyoubeingemotionallyandphysicallyavailableforthechildrenandbetterabletowithstandthechallengesthatcomewithyourrole.Inaddition,itisalsoimportanttorecognisethatweactasrolemodelsforourchildren.Itisimportanttodemonstratetothem
HillcrestChildrensServices HillcrestChildr ©Hillcrest 2019 | SEMH Information Sheet | Issue 6
ForfurtherinformationaboutourschoolsandhomesforchildrenwithSocial,EmotionalandMentalHealth(SEMH)needs,
call:08442487187|email:[email protected]|website:www.hillcrestchildrensservices.co.uk
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