Helping children and adolescents who have experienced trauma to feel safe and confident enough to talk, let alone engage in therapeutic work, can be full of challenges – for children and for adults. Conversation-Starters For Working with Children and Adolescents After Trauma aims to make this process easier for practitioners, by offering gentle, playful techniques to help children who are closed or withdrawn to start to open up.

With over 80 activities tailored to different styles of communication, all requiring minimal preparation, this flexible resource provides an activity for every situation. From helping a child identify fun things around them to helping them to learn how to control unwanted thoughts, or to understand how feeling states can move from darkness to light, you will wish that you had known about these techniques sooner. Simply choose whether you would like to focus on helping a child with a coping or positive thinking activity, gather the everyday tools you need, and you are all set. Each of the activities can be used in both individual and group formats, and case studies throughout the book serve as a helpful guide on how the activities work in practice.

This book is the ultimate toolkit for use with children and adolescents aged between 5 and 17. It is ideal for practitioners working with children who have experienced trauma, physical or sexual abuse, or severe neglect. Those working with children who are experiencing acute depression, anxiety and behavioural difficulties will also find it useful.

Author Bio:

Dawn D’Amico is a clinical social worker and psychotherapist and has worked with affected by various types of trauma in different settings, including in private practice, hospitals, children’s homes and refugee camps. She has over 22 years’ experience in the field and has worked internationally in Asia and Africa as well as in the USA. Dawn has a PhD in Spiritual Counselling and lives in Wisconsin, USA.

Also titles from this author

101 Mindful Arts-Based Activities to Get Children and Adolescents Talking: Working with Severe Trauma, Abuse and Neglect Using Found and Everyday Objects