engleski

CBT with traumatized children in Center for child protection in Zagreb.

Trauma is severe and threatening experience which is mostly sudden and unexpected. Ti influences people in a very disturbing and stressful way. Most children deal with trauma successfully on their own or with family support, but some of them need professional help- 3851 children were included for diagnosis and treatment in the Center for Child Protection in Zagreb during five years. 63, 4% of those children had traumatic experience. After diagnosis they were all included in some kind of treatment in the Center. One of the treatments practiced in the Center is Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. The main difficulties that are covered with this treatment are: betrayal of trust, self blame, shame, anger, self-control training, learning appropriate ways of expressing emotions, hopelessness. The treatment's aim is to decrease behavioral and emotional difficulties that are related to the traumatic experience. Therefore, the following interventions are used: gradual exposure ti the traumatic event, direct discussion of the traumatic event, cognitive exploration of distorted cognitions, emotions recognition and expression, relaxation and imagination techniques, problem-solving, coping skills, interventions with parents, counseling and psychoeducation. This psychotherapeutic approach includes individual sessions with child, parent/caregiver and joint child-parent sessions. In that way parents are actively involved in child treatment because the child’s exposure to the traumatic event is considered a traumatic event for the parents/family as well. During individual sessions, parents are given the opportunity to recognize their own reinforcements/mistakes and to learn how to adequately recognize and answer to the child’s needs. Joint parent-child sessions enable better mutual communication and understanding, correction of irrational beliefs and cognitive distortions in both child and parent, rebuilding trust and sense of safety. The main goal of the therapy is to help child and family to integrate the traumatic experience into lives in the most recovering and healthiest way.

Child’s trauma; Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

nije evidentirano