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Children and Disasters - Part III
General Steps in the Helping Process
This section of the manual focuses on helping children and their families deal with the emotional aftermath of a disaster. Major disaster events
irrespective of their origin impact all persons who experience the event. Evidence from numerous disasters clearly demonstrates that persons
who are impacted by the event either directly or indirectly will experience a range of feelings and emotions regarding the effect of the disaster
and its consequences.
While everyone interprets life events within the context of their experiences, children interpret their personal experiences within the limited
context of their current stage of psychological development. As mentioned in the previous sections, the world of the child is defined by his or her
stage of intellectual and emotional development, experiences with siblings and parents and extended family including grandparents, uncles, aunts,
and cousins, the child's history and culture, and his or her school, peers, neighborhood, and community within which he or she lives. It is within
the structure of these relationships that a child must cope with the impact of the disaster event.
Understanding the definition(s) of family for a child is essential to understanding the complexity of their emotional reaction to the disaster. Family
in its most common definition is a group of persons consisting of parents and their children. However, in its broadest interpretation it can be
defined as any class or group of related things. Thus given the appropriate context, a child's family can be as broad as their neighborhood,
community, or school, or as narrow as their relationship to their parents. Considering the various definitions of family when trying to assess the
depth of impact of a disaster on children is important and necessary to determine appropriate crisis counseling and disaster mental health
recovery strategies.
Below are examples of some potential relationships that comprise the notion of family for children:
- Children to natural parent, direct caregiver, or guardian
- Children to brothers and sisters, living in the same and other households
- Children to grandparents (maternal and fraternal)
- Children to uncle, aunts, and cousins, within and distant from the impact area
- Children to significant non-related adults
- Children to the world of their school (teachers, staff, and students)
- Children to school friends and neighborhood friends - from their inner circle of very close confidants to casual acquaintances
- Children to community of worship (church, synagogue)
- Children to persons in the communities of reference, (e.g., local neighborhood, village, town, city, county)
General Steps in the Healing Process
A basic principle of working with children in disasters is that they are essentially normal children who have experienced great stress. Most of the
problems that appear are likely therefore to be directly related to the disaster and transitory in nature.
The process recommended for helping children and families often starts with "crisis intervention," which trained and supervised
paraprofessionals and volunteers can provide. The primary goal in crisis intervention is to identify, respond to, and relieve the stresses resulting
from the crisis (disaster) and to reestablish normal functioning as quickly as possible. Sometimes the reaction is mild, but other times it is severe.
Also, the workers must be trained to recognize when the condition is mild and can be handled by the families (with guidance), when referral to a
helper, such as a school counselor is warranted, and when it is severe and requires intervention by a mental health professional.
The general steps in the helping process are:
1.ESTABLISHING RAPPORT
- Let the children know you are interested in them and want to help.
- Check with the children to make sure that they understand what you are saying and that you understand them.
- Display genuine respect and regard for the children and their families.
- Communicate trust and promise only what you can do.
- Convey acceptance of the children and their families.
- Communicate to the children and their families that you are an informed authority.
2.IDENTIFYING, DEFINING, AND FOCUSING ON THE PROBLEM
- Identify and prioritize specific problems with the children, parents, and family.
- Select a specific problem, define its characteristics, and focus on solving it first.
- Achieve a quick resolution to the problem so that the members of the family experience a sense of success and control.
- Evaluate the seriousness of each of the identified problems and the capacity of the family to deal with them.
3.UNDERSTANDING FEELINGS
- Demonstrate your ability to see and feel as others do.
- Display patience in trying to understand children's feelings, for children are frequently unable to express their fears.
- Respond to the children's stories frequently by commenting on the events and affirming their feelings.
- Express a nurturing positive regard for the children, to convey an appreciation for the kind and intensity of their feelings.
4.LISTENING CAREFULLY
- Understand the disaster concerns from the point of view of the children.
- Listen to the children's account of the disaster many times, in order to help children "work through" their feelings associated with
the disaster.
- Refrain from interrupting the children as they tell their stories.
- Affirm children's feelings by giving them time to express themselves.
5.COMMUNICATING CLEARLY
- Communicate in a language children understand.
- Talk with children in groups or with siblings or other family members.
- Seek the presence of family members to interpret code words used by the children.
- Communicate with children in their dominant language.
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Copyright © The Center for Mental Health Services. The information on this website is provided as a courtesy to My ParenTime's Family Community visitors, and is for educational purposes only. Reprinted with permission.
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