For parents & carers
What to Expect
At Trauma Recovery UK we think working with the parents and carers is essential and is not just an added extra.
We know that as adults we need support from each other and from professionals, in a culture where no one feels shame or blame, where we can explore how we feel about traumatic experiences and the behaviours and challenges for the children and young people we care for.
While the children and young people are having their therapy sessions, the parents/carers have a group session to explore issues around the neuroscience of trauma, parenting when children exhibit deeply challenging behaviour, parenting when emotionally exhausted etc. The groups are led by experienced, trauma informed practitioners who model empathy, kindness and support and won’t let shame and blame be part of any atmosphere.
Betsy de Thierry's book 'The Simple Guide to Child Trauma' is used as the handbook for the
TRFM® Parenting Course.
The feedback is that parents really value this space as a safe space to meet other adults who are facing similar challenges and a place to learn strategies and tools to help their family life.
We want to support you as you support your children and young people.
‘When we are thinking about collective trauma, the adults involved are usually as submerged in the trauma as the younger people, if not more, and yet only sometimes do they feel equipped and ready to help navigate others through that which they themselves also feel so overwhelmed by. However, we know that when the parents and carers understand the impact of trauma and realise how important their role is, they can feel equipped and empowered to make a difference to lives around them, despite their own distress. In fact, although it demands emotional energy and strength to support others when we are ourselves feeling overwhelmed, it can be life changing in its benefit to both the children and ourselves as we work to navigate the children through the collective trauma. The most extraordinary power of the primary caregiver has been evidenced in different research which is mind blowing and yet rarely shared with parents and carers.’
Betsy de Thierry MBE, 'Simple Guide to Collective Trauma', 2021