The Impact of Trauma in School Age Children

For most, starting school marks the time when children begin to spend their days formally learning, rather than developing skills through play. It also brings children into greater contact with their peers, expanding their social worlds beyond their family. Traumatized children usually find little pleasure in school because both learning and navigating relationships with peers and adults too often leave them feeling defeated, rather than proud.

Created by Molly Sager, MFT, the Director of Clinical Programs at A Home Within. Molly maintains a private practice in San Francisco ,focusing on the treatment of trauma as it relates to divorce, medical illnesses, developmental and psychological concerns. She sees adults, couples, teens, and kids, and lectures throughout the bay area on a variety of topics.

The content of the Curriculum trainings are based on relationship based therapy and practices, developed by the mental health team of A Home Within and Dr. Toni Heineman, author of Relational Treatment of Trauma and co-editor of Relationship Based Psychotherapy for Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults.

ACCESS SCHOOL AGE CHILDREN TRAINING

About the Training

When children are focused on dealing with threats that they see either outside themselves or inside themselves, it gets in the way of learning something new. To overcome trauma, children need help feeling safe with themselves and with others.

This training reviews current research about the effects of trauma, and organizes its impact along four aspects of development — physical, cognitive, social, and emotional. It then provides examples and suggestions about how to respond in ways that promote growth and healthy relationships.

At the end of this training you will:

Understand the effects of trauma on physical, emotional, cognitive, and psychological development in school age children
Learn to understand the links between trauma and behavior in the classroom and at home
Learn techniques to help promote growth and healthy relationships with traumatized school age children

A review of typical physical development opens the first section, followed by a review of the impact of trauma on a school age children’s physical development. The section then explores ways that caregivers can promote physical development using physicality, thinking, relationships, and feelings. The next sections follow this same format for cognitive, social, and emotional development.

This training is designed to help non-clinicians understand the effects of trauma and respond in ways that promote growth and healthy relationships.

Get your certificate here.

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