Posted September, 2001

Robert S. Pynoos and Kathi Nader of the Counseling and Readjustment Services, Columbia, South Carolina, list symptoms that a younger child might exhibit after exposure to trauma, and what you can do to help the child.

1. Helplessness and passivity



2. Generalized fear



3. Cognitive confusion (e.g., do not understand that the danger is over)



4. Difficulty identifying what is bothering them



5. Lack of verbalization (selective mutism, repetitive nonverbal traumatic play, unvoiced questions)



6. Attributing magical qualities to traumatic reminders



7. Sleep disturbances (nightmares; fear of being alone, especially at night)



8. Anxious attachment (clinging, not wanting to be away from parent, worrying when parent is coming back, etc.)



9. Regressive symptoms (thumb sucking, enuresis -- bed wetting, regressive speech)



10. Anxieties related to incomplete understanding about death; fantasies of "fixing up" the dead: expectations that a dead person will return, e.g., an assailant.

1. Provide support, comfort, food, opportunity to play or draw



2. Re-establish adult protective shield



3. Give repeated concrete clarifications for anticipated confusions



4. Provide emotional labels for common reactions



5. Help to verbalize general feelings and complaints (so they will not feel alone with their feelings)



6. Separate what happened from physical reminders (e.g., a house, monkeybars, parking lot)



7. Encourage them to let their parents and teachers know



8. Provide consistent caretaking (e.g., assurance of being picked up from school, knowledge of caretaker’s whereabouts)



9. Give explanations about the physical reality of death