Reliving the trauma (to change the meaning)

At a safe distance

When I used to work in Market Research, I used story telling to uncover the more subconsious elements of characters in the TV shows children watched so we could check that what the production team wanted to convey morally and educationally was there but not in a teachery sort of way. The deal was that children ‘got it’ and could enjoy and relate to the characters.

Projecting themselves onto play characters, toys and figurines, moshi monsters and so on, was a way they could talk about themselves and yet be talking about the play characters so it was at a distance from them.

We use this in therapy a lot.

What we don’t want is for them to relive the trauma as if it’s happening again right now. We want them to describe what happened as if they are the film director, directing the film from the start when everyone was safe, through to the end when everyone (in most cases) is safe again.

Here’s what to do.

When your child client starts reliving the scene, just ask them to stop. Suggest they …