Children & Stress

1. Children & Stress Virginia Cooperative Extension

2. Stressed out! • Draw yourself under stress • You don’t have to be real artsy • Can use shapes, stick figures, objects






3. What do these pictures have in common? Face grimaces Head aches ?

4. Reasons for stress in children Family disruptions; mirroring stress of others Natural disaster Community violence Normal growth and development, peers Other….

5. Think about the children in your care In small groups: Think of at least 1 specific instance each to discuss a particular stressor you noted in a child. - How did you pick-up on it? - How was the child acting or reacting? - What (if anything) did you do about it?

6. Stress Model

7. Stages of recovery Stages • Heroic • Honeymoon • Disillusionment • Reconstruction and recovery • Safety • Remembrance and mourning • Reconnection to ordinary life

8. Stress in children Children need to feel safe Children may regress (toileting, whining, thumb sucking) Children need to know adults in their lives have a plan

9. …And Children need to work through their feelings but they may not have the words in their vocabulary For children, play comes naturally

10. The Play Approach • Present children with concrete items • Aim is to elicit similar feelings you suspect they are having • Ask open-ended questions • Be prepared to refer for psychological counseling if necessary

11. Open-ended questioning technique • Examples: • Tell me about it. • What does this remind you of? • What happened then? How did you feel? Close-ended questions can be answered “yes” or “no” Open-ended take more words for a response

12. Consider items such as: People of various cultures Houses, cars, helicopters, boats Sunglasses (to assume new identities) Puppets to act out roles Toy cell phone Plastic farm animals, pets Other items to represent loss or this disaster

13. The Literature Approach • The group leader - establish trust, create safety • Select with stories to tap feelings. • Use open-ended questions! • Do not tell group you are here to talk about loss or anger

14. The child hears the story • Along the way assumes the role of the character • Group times should be fairly brief • Coordinate with a partner in Mental Health for referrals if necessary.

15. Children Need • Play • Routine • Reality • Safety • Physical closeness

16. Key Points • Safety, routine, physical closeness • Regression • Play • Concrete Learners • Strategies • Art • Play • Reading