Monitor on Psychology - September 2011 - (Page 67)

Helping kids cope in an uncertain world Research in the wake of 9/11 and other tragedies points to ways to help heal and build resilience among children who have experienced trauma. B Y TORI D e A NG ELIS ince 9/11, psychologists have been working to answer two critical questions: How can we help children understand such tragedies and how can we foster their resilience and hope in spite of such events? Researchers and clinicians alike have been exploring a variety of realms to find answers. While research shows that the emotional effects of 9/11 on most children were shortlived, for those children who need the help, psychologists are looking at which interventions work best to help child victims of tragedy heal, how to support adults so they can help children move beyond such crises, and how children’s exposure to media affects their healing and future outlook. Here are some of the lessons their work is pointing to: • Use evidence-based treatments. As in other areas of mental health, using practices backed by science can mean the difference between helpful and ineffective care, says New York-based clinician Robin Goodman, PhD, who runs the bereavement program at and is executive director of A Caring Hand, The Billy Esposito Foundation. In treating and studying children and their families in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, an intervention she found particularly useful in helping children who lost parents in the disaster addresses a reaction called “childhood traumatic grief.” The method — originally developed to treat sex-abuse victims by psychiatrist Judith A. Cohen, MD, and psychologists Esther Deblinger, PhD, and Anthony P. Mannarino, PhD — recognizes that when a loved one dies as a result of a sudden traumatic event, children may show signs of both trauma and grief, and reminders of the septeMber 2011 • Monitor on psychology S trauma and even positive memories can trigger traumatic reactions and memories. A child with traumatic grief can get “stuck” on the traumatic aspects of the death, which then interferes with the typical grieving process, Goodman explains. The treatment, called trauma-focused cognitive behavior therapy, helps the child confront and manage reminders of the trauma, separating them from comforting memories, Goodman explains. The first part uses cognitive behavioral techniques to address trauma symptoms by teaching the child stressmanagement strategies; creating a trauma narrative, or story, that helps the child process and make sense of the incident; and addressing cognitive distortions such as undue guilt over the parent’s death. The second part of treatment addresses griefspecific issues, such as life changes that result from the loved one’s absence, memories of the person and making meaning of the experience. Caregivers are treated separately from the child using an adult version of the protocol, and at specific points in the therapy, the two are brought together for joint sessions. Several studies have shown the protocol’s validity and effectiveness, with the initial pilot study reported in the Journal of the American Academy of Children and Adolescent Psychiatry (Vol. 43, No. 10). In a not-yet-published randomized clinical trial conducted with children and spouses of firefighters, police, Port Authority and emergency medical service personnel killed in the line of duty on 9/11, Goodman, Cohen, Mannarino and Elissa Brown, PhD, compared trauma-focused CBT with clientcentered therapy in 40 bereaved children and their mothers. At baseline, the children were in the normal range on standardized 67

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Monitor on Psychology - September 2011

Monitor on Psychology - September 2011
Letters
President’s Column
Contents
From the CEO
Supreme Court hears psychologists on prison and video game cases
Antipsychotics are overprescribed in nursing homes
New MCAT likely to recognize the mind-body connection
A $2 million boost for military and families
In Brief
GOVERNMENT RELATIONS UPDATE
On Your Behalf
Judicial Notebook
Random Sample
TIME CAPSULE
QUESTIONNAIRE
Speaking of Education
SCIENCE WATCH
An uncertain future for American workers
Advocating for psychotherapy
PRACTICE PROFILE
ETHICALLY SPEAKING
Seared in our memories
Helping kids cope in an uncertain world
APA and Nickelodeon team up
Muslims in America, post 9/11
Bin Laden’s death
‘They expect us to be there’
Answering the call of public policy
Candidates answer final questions
APA News
Division Spotlight
New leaders
AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL FOUNDATION
Disaster relief training
Honoring teaching excellence
Personalities

Monitor on Psychology - September 2011