Counseling and Your Family
What is Traumatic Stress?
When children have been exposed to situations where they feared for their lives, have believed they could have been injured, have been abused, have witnessed violence, or tragically lost a loved one, they may show signs of traumatic stress.
If your child is experencing traumatic stress you might notice the following signs:
• Difficulty sleeping and nightmares
• Refusing to go to school
• Lack of appetite
• Bed-wetting or other regression in behavior
• Interference with developmental milestones
• Anger
• Getting into fights at school or fighting more with siblings
• Difficulty paying attention to teachers at school and to parents at home
• Avoidance of scary situations
• Withdrawal from friends or activities
• Nervousness or jumpiness
• Intrusive memories of what happened
• Play that includes recreating the event
Taken from The National Child Traumatic Stress Network: www.NCTSN.org
These are normal symptoms of trauma and can be addressed through counseling.
