Child traumatherapy: Its role in managing the effects of trauma, loss, damaged attachment, and dissociation in children exposed to lethal urban community violence

Abstract

Violence and its effects on children should be a pressing concern for clinicians

“It takes a village to heal a child”: Necessary spectrum of expertise and benevolence by therapists, Non-Governmental Organizations, and the United Nations in managing war-zone stress in children traumatized by political violence

“…There is thus no need for clinicians and policy makers to engage in the false idealism that "wishes away" Western methods as fundamentally flawed, irrelevant, or even harmful in non-Western contexts. Rather than espousing an either/or point of view the mental health care provider integrates Western methods with local customs, values, and culturally-shaped definitions about health, illness, trauma, and getting well again (Parson, 1996b).…”

“…Thus, this phase of WZTrT employs the unique symbols of the culture, as the therapist leads affected children in group activities that do not require direct verbal expression and recounting of traumatic violence. These indirect mental and somatic processing activities impact painful emotions and confusing cognition through the use of art, dance, music, woodworking, drawing, myths, cultural or tribal games and rituals, as well as the use of specific toys and play materials (Parson, 1996b).…”