Children’s traumatic experiences need healing
Ububele Educational and Psychotherapy Trust says children's traumatic experiences, such as being abused and neglected, often turn out to be lifelong wounds that never heal and that it is important for parents to ensure that their children undergo psychotherapy treatment to help them to heal whenever they encounter or become involved in issues that affect
Christianne Jones of Ububele Educational and Psychotherapy Trust writes:
Mental health sometimes comes and goes around as a buzzword, which people have many different opinions about.
Oftentimes, especially in communities where there are so many socio-economic difficulties, poverty, and high levels of abuse and neglect, mental health is among the first things to be affected, but among the last to be addressed or considered.
It is tough enough being the adults that have to face all of these difficulties, and it is true that children are often left to their own devices when it comes to processing difficult emotions or traumatic experiences, and making sense of what is happening around them.
If we take a moment to think back and remember what it was like for us to be children, and what things might have been like and felt like for us at those younger ages, we can start to empathise with our children and be curious about how they might be growing and developing during their childhood.
Some of the ways we could nurture and support our children’s mental health might include age-appropriately informing them of things happening around them. Sometimes as adults, we feel it is better for children to know less, but sometimes this may not be true as keeping children in the dark about things may negatively affect their mental health.
Starting to have open conversations with your children from early on not only sets their minds at ease but also begins to foster a relationship of open communication between you and them where they feel safe bringing their concerns or experiences to you.
Sitting down with them and explaining to them why you don’t want them playing outside until dark, instead of harsh punishment or even silent treatment, can go a long way for them to understand why they are expected to do and not do certain things.
Similarly, a discussion can be had around you being unsure about what might be happening with Covid-19 right now, or the fact that things might feel difficult in the home recently due to various issues, etc.
We may feel as though children don’t understand many of these things, and it is true that they may not. However, opening up a conversation where they feel involved can do wonders for their mental health and for your relationship with them.
It helps them not to assume that something may be wrong because of something they have done and also alerts them to many things going on around them that even adults struggle with.
Why don’t you try it out when you have some time, start that conversation, and ask them what they are thinking and how they feel. They are little human beings after all.
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