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Using the Hobfoll Principles to Communicate with Parents, Carers and Anyone Impacted by Trauma or War

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Using the Hobfoll Principles to Communicate with Parents, Carers and Anyone Impacted by Trauma or War

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With many thanks to the NeoLeaP (Neonatal Leads for Psychological Practice) psychologists for providing this guidance.

These principles are based on psychological knowledge about what is helpful after trauma or periods of extreme stress. They may be helpful to you if you have experienced something traumatic, distressing, dangerous or frightening. It may also help you if you are working with people during or after these kinds of difficult situations. This sheet contains some suggestions for areas you might want to explore with parents and some notes for staff as background to each area. These key principles are:

1.     Promoting a sense of safety

Helping people feel safe where they are, both physically (they are not going to be hurt) and emotionally (you are trustworthy and want to help them)

2.     Promoting calming

Helping people to feel calm, grounded or settled, even momentarily to give them a chance to think more clearly or respite from their distress.

3.     Promote Self and Collective efficacy

Helping people use their own skills and the skills within their community to respond to the situations they are facing. Support them to recognise and celebrate what they can do even when this feels limited.

4.     Promotion of connectedness

Linking people up with their existing support and with support which can help them manage the challenges. Recognising the power of community and other people to help coping and healing.

5.     Instilling hope

Supporting people to look beyond the current situation and imagine a future where things are better, and to notice where things are going better despite the many hard things.

When talking with parents, use active listening. This includes:

•    Using open questions e.g. ‘what’s running through your mind at the moment?’

•    Normalising e.g. ‘ It’s really understandable you feel worried given what happened’, ‘many of us find it hard to understand or make sense of it’

•     Validating e.g. ‘ I can see how frustrated/concerned/worried you are about this situation. This is really hard for you’

•    Summarising e.g. ‘ What you’ve told me so far is ……… and this is making you feel…….. and we need to think together about X and X to help with all of this’

A sense of being heard and listened to is key. At the end of your discussion you might want to make a plan with the parent(s)/person based on what comes out of these conversations. This can be helpful as a shared ‘working document’ that the team can refer to and can be updated/modified as needed. If more information is needed or you are unsure, it’s helpful to be open about this and let parents know you will follow up anything you haven’t been able to answer or don’t know.

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Looking After Ourselves During Scary World Events: The Mental Health Foundation

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Looking After Ourselves During Scary World Events: The Mental Health Foundation

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"Scary world news can affect our mental health. After learning about global events that cause uncertainty, you may feel fear, anxiety or a loss of control over your own life and plans. You may worry for the safety of strangers, loved ones or yourself. And if you have lived through similar events in the past, it may bring up traumatic memories.

Know that whatever you feel is valid. Know that we care about you and your mental health. And know that you are not alone in this.

We have created some advice to help you cope and support your loved ones during these uncertain times."

https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/explore-mental-health/articles/tips-look-after-your-mental-health-during-scary-world-events

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Scary world news can affect our mental health. After learning about global events that cause uncertainty, you may feel fear, anxiety or a loss of control over your own life and plans. You may worry for the safety of strangers, loved ones or yourself. And if you have lived through similar events in the past, it may bring up traumatic memories.

Know that whatever you feel is valid. Know that we care about you and your mental health. And know that you are not alone in this.
We have created some advice to help you cope and support your loved ones during these uncertain times.
Stay informed, but be aware of your limits

Ask yourself, "how much information and scary world news am I currently taking in? And how does it make me feel?"

If it's having a negative effect on how you feel, try to:

take a short break from the news

mute or turn off news notifications on your smartphone

mute or unfollow social media accounts that are reporting on it

or limit your news intake to once a day

After you've had a break, ask yourself "how do I feel now that I've had a space from the news?"

If you find that the break has helped, then try to continue:

to stay informed in bitesize portions

to take space from the news when you need to

to pause and check in on how you feel

to engage with different social media platforms based on how they make you feel

Over and above those, try to be intentional in how you are consuming news, and, as much as you can, avoid long 'scrolling through' sessions.

Try to accept that, although we may want to help or change the current global and national situation, some of these things may be out of our control.

We talk about ways that you can meaningfully engage or feel empowered in the sections below.

Engage with your community in a meaningful way

If the uncertainty surrounding the news is bringing about feelings of fear and isolation, remember that there are always other people that are feeling the exact same way right now and that there are things that we can do to tackle this.

Something you can do to tackle these feelings is to connect with your local community. This can help you to feel more empowered, connected and less alone.

Connect with your local community by:

getting involved in local volunteering opportunities

joining local grassroots campaigns, or community groups working on issues that are important to you

joining a local Facebook group or Meet Ups to connect with people in your local area

Humans are neurologically wired to connect with others. Helping others and engaging with our local community in a meaningful way is good for our mental health.

Empower your voice

You may feel powerless if you have opinions on what is happening in the world but remain silent. And you may feel powerless if you don't know what to do with your opinions or passion for change.

Here are some ways that you can empower your voice and feel less out of control:

explore ways to be engaged in a political community

take part in a peaceful organised rally

join relevant events or debates.

Civic and political activism may make you feel more empowered and give you an avenue to express your thoughts in a constructive way.

When talking to other people about world news, if a topic comes up which you disagree on, try to focus on active listening, respectful discussion and assertive communication. Being drawn into highly polarised or disrespectful conversations usually has an adverse effect on our wellbeing.

If a comment upsets you, try to take a break, pause the conversation and come back when you feel ready.

Don't bottle it up

When you feel overwhelmed, try to reach out for support. There are people and organisations that want to help:

You could also try to express how you are feeling through creativity. You could write in a journal, listen to an emotive song, draw or dance. Express in a way that feels right for you. Try to stay with those activities for at least a few minutes to unlock their protective effects on your wellbeing.

Look after your mental health

Try to keep allocating time to things, activities and actions that are good for your mental health.

What works will be different for each person, so tune into what is right for you. Here are a few things to get your started. Try to:

All of these can help you to feel better and to take your mind off the stress of the news cycle.

Finally, if you feel that scary world news is affecting your children, then use our guide to talking to your children about scary world news to help you have open and honest conversations at home.

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Tips to look after your mental health during scary world events

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Scary world news can affect our mental health. After learning about global events that cause uncertainty, you may feel fear, anxiety or a loss of control over your own life and plans.

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Stand Up! Education Against Discrimination

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Stand Up! Education Against Discrimination

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Stand Up! delivers educational workshops, lectures and interactive programmes to students aged 11-18. Facilitators offer a fluid approach to adapting sessions, always aiming to meet students’ specific needs and the school’s social and cultural context.

Stand Up! is an interfaith programme led by Maccabi GB and CST. Dynamic facilitators from Jewish and Muslim backgrounds model a partnership of collaboration, demonstrating how groups often perceived as oppositional can work together successfully. Through debunking myths and challenging stereotypes about the communities, young people's critical thinking skills are developed. This enables them to identify and counter discrimination safely and responsibly.

https://www.standupeducation.org/

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Stand Up! is an anti-discrimination interfaith project, led by Maccabi GB and run in partnership with CST, and TellMAMA. It brings Jewish & Muslim educators into the classroom to facilitate informal conversations with young people.

By creating a safe space and through interactive workshops, students are empowered to learn about and act against racism and discrimination with a specific focus on antisemitism and anti-Muslim hate. Young people are provided with the tools on how to report hate crime, whilst developing their sense of social responsibility to their local communities and British society as a whole.

Stand Up! is supported by the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC). See what the Mayor had to say about Stand Up!'s work.

*The Mayor of London meets the Stand Up! team, November 2023.

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Stand Up! is an anti-discrimination interfaith project, led by Maccabi GB and run in partnership with CST, and TellMAMA. It brings Jewish & Muslim educators into the classroom to facilitate informal conversations with young people. By creating a safe space and through interactive workshops, students are empowered to learn about and act against racism and discrimination with a specific focus on antisemitism and anti-Muslim hate.

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Winston's Wish provides information and support when a child experiences a bereavement. They have a very helpful google translate button down at the bottom. Hebrew and Arabic are both available.

https://www.winstonswish.org/supporting-you/supporting-a-bereaved-child/

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The CST supports victims of antisemitism and is also a public service which monitors antisemitic incidents and reporting.

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© CST all rights reserved. The information on this website, text and illustrations may only be reproduced with prior permission from CST. Community Security Trust is a registered charity in England and Wales (1042391) and Scotland (SC043612).

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Tell MAMA: Support For Victims of Anti-Muslim Hate

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Tell MAMA: Support For Victims of Anti-Muslim Hate

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Tell Mama supports victims of anti-Muslim hate and is a public service which also monitors anti-Muslim services. It is not a replacement for the police, so in an emergency please call 999.

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Report in Anti-Muslim Hate or Islamophobia

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Tell MAMA supports victims of Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hate. You can report in anti-Muslim hate to Tell MAMA & we will provide casework, one to one, emotional support & legal referrals.

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Thrive LDN's Help Yourself and Others initiative focuses on things that enable good wellbeing, alongside free wellbeing training opportunities. They provide resources across a wide range of topics, from translated wellbeing resources to urgent support and help for those who are displaced and facing crises, as well as toolkits for community groups.

https://thriveldn.co.uk/help-yourself-and-others/

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Talking therapies

NHS talking therapies, or counselling, are effective and confidential treatments delivered by fully trained and accredited NHS practitioners. They can help with common mental health problems like stress, anxiety and depression. You can access talking therapies for free on the NHS.

Get started

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NHS talking therapies, or counselling, are effective and confidential treatments delivered by fully trained and accredited NHS practitioners. They can help with common mental health problems like stress, anxiety and depression. You can access talking therapies for free on the NHS. Get started

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MSF is a global humanitarian movement of 48,000 staff across more than 70 countries, placing doctors and other healthcare staff into some of the most challenging situations across the globe.

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We are Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF). We provide vital medical care for the people who need it most in more than 70 countries.

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The Doctors of the World network has more than 400 programmes in over 80 countries. They have medical staff working in the conflict zone, as well as supporting refugees and displaced people to access healthcare in the UK. They provide translated information on many healthcare and clinical topics:
The Doctors of the World network has more than 400 programmes in over 80 countries.

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Below you will be able to find a series of resources addressing common questions including how to register with a GP, COVID 19 and the vaccine as well as keeping young people healthy. Please use the filters to search documents by keyword, narrow by topic or select your language or type you are looking for. For the Vaccine Confidence toolkit please click here.

Language and Search

©2023 Doctors of the World UK
Registered company 3483008 | Charity 1067406
The People's Place, 80-92 High St, London E15 2NE
+44 (0)20 7167 5789

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TRANSLATED HEALTH INFORMATION FOR PATIENTS - Doctors of the World

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Below you will be able to find a series of resources addressing common questions including how to register with a GP, COVID 19 and the vaccine as well as keeping Read More

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The British Red Cross provides health, emergency and social services, including a helpline. Clinical psychologists often volunteer for the Red Cross, both in the UK and overseas, and are involved with their psychosocial and mental health volunteer reserve initiative:

https://www.redcross.org.uk/stories/health-and-social-care/health/psychosocial-reserve-volunteers

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With that in mind, I am delighted that, with the support of our corporate partner Marsh & McLennan, we are now recruiting 100 chartered clinical and counselling psychologists to sign up as psychosocial reserve volunteers for the British Red Cross (applications have now closed).
Skills, ability, and desire to help
This idea has been in our plans for a while, but was brought to life after I attended a meeting at the European Federation of Psychological Associations, where the British Psychological Society was hosting its equivalents from around Europe.

I spoke about our response following the London terrorist attacks in 2017 and the Grenfell Tower fire, and discussed how those convergent volunteers present an opportunity but also a risk. I thought, wouldn't it be good if we could find a way to use chartered psychologists who have the skills, ability and desire to help? One of the hosts told me that in fact the Australian Red Cross has a relationship with the Australian Psychological Society doing exactly that, which made us want to make this happen in the UK too.

Our recruitment model is very much based on our successful community reserve volunteers* model. The recruitment process is very light touch and the only training potential volunteers need is via a series of short essential online courses, followed by a five-hour workshop on Zoom with my team and the national crisis response team.
Providing direct and indirect support where it's needed
When our teams are deployed in the aftermath of an incident, the national crisis response team will ask local responders whether they need more specialist psychosocial and mental health input. The nearest psychosocial staff/volunteers will be deployed, which will include the psychosocial reserve volunteers.

After the Grenfell Tower fire, both our psychosocial support team and our psychosocial and mental health team were involved in a myriad of ways. We were on site at the community assistance centre, giving support to staff and volunteers who were providing the direct support to people affected by the fire, and we were also in the family and friends assistance centre providing direct support to families who were bereaved and/or survivors of the fire.

AFTER THE GRENFELL TOWER FIRE, OUR TEAMS WERE INVOLVED IN A MYRIAD OF WAYS.

In connection with the local Mental Health NHS Trust, we set up outreach pairs, which saw our crisis responders working with psychologists and other staff from the Mental Health Trust to go out and make sure people in the community who hadn't come to the assistance centre were OK. We also provided clinical supervision to Red Cross caseworkers who were supporting families remotely. There are so many roles we can play, and these are roles a psychosocial reserve volunteer could play too.

We are very often there, if not in the foreground then in the background.

This initiative is about supporting the amazing skills we have within our frontline services. We know that the staff and volunteers who are delivering support really appreciate being able to go and get some support in the forms of reflective practice, clinical supervision, consultation and/or advice on how to best support someone who might be very distressed, angry, agitated or suicidal after an incident. It can be helpful for them to feel confident and competent in responding to people in crisis, and to know there are specialists alongside them who can provide them with support, and join them when needed.

THERE ARE SO MANY OPPORTUNITIES FOR OTHER PSYCHOLOGISTS IN WORKING WITH OUR ORGANISATION.

It will be brilliant for us as an organisation to have more specialists in mental health who can really ensure that what we provide is holistic, thinking about both the physical and mental health of the people we help. I do genuinely think as a psychologist who has worked for the British Red Cross and has volunteered for years, that there are so many opportunities for other psychologists in working with our organisation.
Recruitment for Community Reserve Volunteer roles has now paused, but will re-open soon.
Find other volunteering roles.
Read more of our work on mental health and wellbeing:

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Introducing our psychosocial reserve volunteer initiative

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Head of psychosocial and mental health Dr Sarah Davidson on our new psychosocial reserve volunteer initiative in partnership with the British Psychological Society

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The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)

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The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)

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The world's largest humanitarian network brings together local Red Cross and Red Crescent organisations, providing support in providing essential supplies, humanitarian aid and emergency healthcare.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)

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MHPSS (Mental Health and Psychosocial Services) 

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MHPSS (Mental Health and Psychosocial Services) 

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MHPSS supports interventions in the humanitarian context around MHPSS [Mental Health and Psychosocial Services] and EiE. They receive funding from WHO and other UN bodies to produce useful resources and guidance in the field and particularly in emergency contexts. Here is a link to one of the toolkits they have produced, which is available in Arabic and Turkish. https://www.mhpss.net/toolkit/emergency

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It may be helpful to signpost some of our schools with students affected by the ongoing loss of lives in Israel and Palestine to these resources shared by Solutions Not Sides. We are aware of the possible online and community ramifications of targeted bullying, antisemitism or Islamophobia that can arise amongst school students when violence erupts in the Middle East. Solutions Not Sides has representatives from across our communities in UK based on human rights and providing educational tools to challenge potential prejudice across communities in schools, education and work resulting from the trauma of this conflict here in the UK.

https://solutionsnotsides.co.uk/

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This website works best with JavaScript enabled.

Solutions Not Sides is an education programme that exists to provide humanising encounters, diverse narratives and critical-thinking tools in order to empower young people with the knowledge, empathy and skills to promote dialogue and conflict resolution, and to challenge prejudice in the UK.

It enables young people to see those affected as fellow human beings, helping them to understand and embrace the complexity of the problem, and empowering them towards seeking solutions.

The subject of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will be approached according to the following principles by speakers and staff of Solutions Not Sides:

1. Acknowledgment that the remit of Solutions Not Sides is not advocacy, partisan solidarity or normalisation

2. Concern for the human rights and national interests of both sides, having regard for freedom, equality, security and peace for all Israelis and Palestinians

3. Understanding that the status quo does not currently achieve this

4. Commitment to pursue a win-win outcome

5. Acceptance that both sides bear responsibility for bringing about a resolution to the conflict

6. Open-mindedness to embrace continuous learning about the complexity of the various narratives

7. Willingness to accept the legitimacy of others' personal stories and experiences and to model respectful disagreement

8. Rejection of conspiracy theories and a blame culture

9. Intolerance of Antisemitism, Islamophobia and racism

10. Declaration that violence on either side of the conflict will not be promoted or endorsed in any way

"It has improved my overall understanding of the conflict going on and made me appreciate that events that occur around the world don't only consist of what the media shows us."
- Student from Chingford School, London

Activities

Educational sessions for secondary schools ages 14-18

Educational sessions for youth groups ages 14-18

Leadership skills training for ages 16-19

Training sessions for teachers, educators and community leaders

Solutions Not Sides is a registered charity in England and Wales (1183651)

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This website works best with JavaScript enabled. Solutions Not Sides is an education programme that exists to provide humanising encounters, diverse narratives and critical-thinking tools in order to empower young people with the knowledge, empathy and skills to promote dialogue and conflict resolution, and to challenge prejudice in the UK.

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Managing the Impact of News, Social Media and Online Information 

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Managing the Impact of News, Social Media and Online Information 

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Shared by a clinical psychologist leading practice in the Middle East:

• Obsessively keeping up with the networks and news can provide us with a sense or illusion of control. It is as though if we are constantly up to date, we are doing something about what has happened. In practice, not only do we not do or help anyone, but vice versa. We weaken and tire ourselves out and leave no strength for ourselves and our loved ones or our families. The right thing is to catch up sparingly. Two to three times a day.

• Guilt – If we are not connected to the news 24/7 we may feel guilty. We may try to express solidarity or support for family, friends or community by connecting to the news. Again, in practice, we might only become more distressed and struggle to engage with work, school, life.

• The videos and testimonies we are currently exposed to are bigger and more devastating than we can contain. It is important not to overwhelm ourselves more with distressing information assuming we can filter and manage.

• Try to create a routine, even if you don’t feel like it. Give yourselves small daily tasks. Not to be angry at ourselves and for having a hard time functioning optimally right now.

• Take breaks and do distracting things. Play, listen to music, do some physical activity, watch a film. These activities can create calm and distraction.

• Be together, be and talk to people who are supportive and kind.

• Think about how we can help. Even in the smallest thing. What I have to give to others. The feeling that I helped someone is very important and helpful.

• Avoid creating trauma responses to material we watch.  Exposure to difficult content such as a video or photo can also be triggering stay in our minds.  It can be helpful to talk about images you see. Share over and over again what we've seen and experienced. Just being repetitive and sharing helps to process.

• Remember that what we often need is to be with others and feel understood.  We can’t say that this will all be fine, but we can say about this moment, these awful times now – ‘this too shall pass’.

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Safe Hands Thinking Minds: Trauma Resources for Children and Families

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Safe Hands Thinking Minds: Trauma Resources for Children and Families

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Resources and support from Karen Treisman, Consultant Clinical Psychologist specialising in trauma and trauma-informed work are available here:

www.safehandsthinkingminds.co.uk

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Relational and developmental trauma in children

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Conversations with Children at Painful Times

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Conversations with Children at Painful Times

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The following websites provide support and advice around being alongside children and young people in the aftermath of traumatic events.

https://www.youngminds.org.uk

http://www.innerworldwork.co.uk/

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Here are some accessible and thoughtful visual resources from Pajes organisation providing support to Jewish schools in the UK.

https://www.pajes.org.uk/response_to_war_in_israel

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Beacon House: Practical Tips for Supporting Children

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Beacon House: Practical Tips for Supporting Children

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The leaflet below from Beacon House outlines some very practical tips for adults supporting children to ask questions, share worries and be clear about what is known or not about distressing and challenging situations.

https://beaconhouse.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Talking-to-children-about-war-and-conflict.pdf

Beacon House has also shared some helpful questions for opening up conversations with children at painful times.

https://beaconhouse.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Simple-safe-questions.pdf

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The UK Trauma Council has very recently published resources on the impact of childhood trauma, war, migration and asylum. This included an animation for young people and is available in Arabic, English and Hebrew amongst other languages.

https://uktraumacouncil.org/

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Learn from the experts at our free webinar Childhood Trauma, War and Conflict taking place 4th December. Register now!

More than one in three children and young people are exposed to at least one potentially traumatic event by age 18.¹ The right support can make a substantial difference to the extent that traumatic events impact on their lives.

The UK Trauma Council (UKTC) creates evidence-based resources to improve professionals and carers' understanding of the nature and impact of trauma. We aim to better equip all those supporting children and young people exposed to trauma.

¹Reference: Lewis, S. J., Arseneault, L., Caspi, A., Fisher, H. L., Matthews, T., Moffitt, T. E., Odgers, C. L., Stahl, D., Teng, J. Y., & Danese, A. (2019). The epidemiology of trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder in a representative cohort of young people in England and Wales. The Lancet Psychiatry, 6(3), 247-256.

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Creating a world that nurtures and protects children and young people following trauma

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The UK Trauma Council's mission is to radically improve the help children and young people receive across the UK following traumatic events and experiences.

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Information from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, www.NCTSN.org

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Information from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, www.NCTSN.org

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Further information can be found at the website of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, www.NCTSN.org

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•      Spend time talking with your children when you feel up to it, and if it is not in this moment – let them know that you have some talking time to go through worries/questions they may have. Let children know that it is OK to ask questions and express their concerns. Their fears and concerns may need to be discussed more than one time and you should remain open to answering new questions and providing helpful information if you can, but do ask other adults to support you when you need. Find time to have these conversations that fits for you and your child.

•      Find time such as if you eat together or sit together in the evening, to talk about what is happening in the family as well as in the community. Answer questions briefly and honestly, but also ask your children for their opinions and ideas.

•      For younger children, follow conversations about the events they have understood with a favourite story or an activity to help them feel safer and calmer.

•      Maintain routines. Children feel more safe and secure with structure and routine. As much as possible, stick to everyday routines (including mealtimes, bedtime).

•      Maintain expectations or “rules”. Stick with family rules, such as rules about good behaviour and respect for others.

•      Limit news exposure. Protect your child from too much news coverage about the unfolding events, including those in newspapers, on the Internet, or on the radio or television.

•      Communicate about community recovery. Reassure children that things are being done in the affected communities as far as possible to help families and communities.

•      Encourage children to help. Children recover and cope better when they feel they are helping. Find ways your children can help, including with clean-up or family activities/gathering supplies for relief efforts etc.

•      Give support at bedtime. Children may become anxious when they separate from their parents, especially at bedtime. Try to spend more time with your children at bedtime with such activities as telling a story.

•      Monitor adult conversations. Be aware of what is being said during adult conversations about the conflict and its aftermath. Children may misinterpret what they hear and can be frightened unnecessarily about something they do not understand.

•      Get your child’s teacher involved. If there has been a serious injury or death or people are missing in your families and communities, please do let your child’s teacher or other supporting and caring adults know so the school can be of help.

•      Keep things hopeful. Even in the most difficult situations, identify some positive aspect and try to stay hopeful for the future. A positive and optimistic outlook helps children see the good things in the world around them.

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Looking After Myself as an Adult, as a Parent, Carer or Teacher

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Looking After Myself as an Adult, as a Parent, Carer or Teacher

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•      Take care of yourself

•      Do your best to drink plenty of water, eat regularly, and get enough sleep

•      Support each other: Take time with other relatives, friends, or members of the community to talk or help each other, including being involved in religious or spiritual activities that connect you to your values and others.

•      Put off major decisions. Avoid making any unnecessary life-altering decisions during this time

•      Give yourself a break. Try not to overdo work/household activities. Take time to rest and do things that you like to do.

•      Connect with nature or art.

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 Feelings of Anxiety, Fear and Worry about the Safety of Self and Others

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 Feelings of Anxiety, Fear and Worry about the Safety of Self and Others

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•     Children may have increased fears and worries about leaving their homes and separation from their families here in the UK

•    Young children may cling to their parents, siblings, or teachers more

•     Anxiety about the safety of their homes here: school, religious, and other buildings

•     Changes in behaviour

•      Increased/decreased activity levels

•      Decreased concentration and attention

•      Increased irritability, withdrawal or emotional outbursts

•      Physical complaints (headaches, stomach aches, general aches and pains)

•      Changes in school-related work habits, social behaviour, and behaviour in the family

•      Increased sensitivity to sounds heard on the news (sirens, loud noises, things falling or crashing – connecting them to the news)

•      Changes in sleep and appetite

•      For those where family members are directly affected, there may be lack of interest in usual activities, including how they spend time with friends

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Common Reactions to Knowing about Trauma, Shock and Devastating Events

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Common Reactions to Knowing about Trauma, Shock and Devastating Events

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Children will process significant traumas and the knowledge of devastating events in time, especially with the support of family, friends, schools and the wider community. Different families may have different experiences during and after receiving news of devastating and traumatic events. How long it takes to recover will depend on what happens to your family during and after these times and the extent of loss as well as the ongoing uncertainty of events unfolding ahead. Many families will have lost loved ones. Some may have family or friends who are still missing or have been seriously injured and will require medical treatment and long-term rehabilitation. Some will be part of families now known to be struggling with damage to their home and possessions, with access to medical care, and increased financial strain. We are aware that phone or internet signals may be unreliable and the stress of limited communication with loved ones in Gaza or Israel may feel unbearable.

Children, young people and their parents may react differently to the news of these events and their aftermath depending on their age, how others around them respond and prior experiences.

We can expect that children’s reactions to ongoing trauma and the aftermath of trauma are strongly influenced by how their parents, relatives, teachers, and other care-givers cope. They often turn to these adults for information, comfort, and help. There are many reactions that are common among children. These generally diminish with time but knowing about them can help you be prepared.

This section of our summary combines ideas and offerings from community child and adolescent mental health colleagues. Please circulate as appropriate and see the links and websites embedded in this document for further support and guidance alongside conversations with the clinicians supporting your children’s centre, school, nursery or community setting.

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Like us, you’ve probably been watching the news about Israel and Palestine and wondering what you can do to help. For those who know people in the areas involved, we appreciate what a difficult time this must be. People from both sides of this conflict will have many needs in the coming months and years. The most pressing priority at this stage is to ensure physical safety and to meet other core needs.

There will inevitably be psychological fallout from this ongoing situation. In anticipation of this — and in the hope that it will be helpful at the appropriate time — we have translated a selection of trauma psychoeducation resources into Hebrew, Arabic, and English. They are freely available for everyone to download and use.

Understanding Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

This is a guide designed to help the reader to understand more about PTSD. As well as a description of trauma, symptoms of PTSD, and effective treatments, this guide explores key maintenance factors for PTSD, including: unprocessed memories, beliefs about trauma and its consequences, and coping strategies including avoidance. Written in a friendly and explanatory way, this guide is a comprehensive source of information for those experiencing post-traumatic stress reactions or those with PTSD (and their friends and family). The concepts are explained in an easily digestible manner, with case examples and accessible diagrams.

Understanding Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (Hebrew)

Understanding Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (Arabic)

Understanding Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (English US)

Understanding Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (English GB)

How Trauma Can Affect You - Symptoms experienced during ongoing trauma and also post-trauma can be physically and emotionally powerful and can feel especially disturbing if the person doesn’t know why they are occurring. This illustrated information handout describes and normalizes common reactions to traumatic events, including feeling scared, having unwanted memories, or having nightmares and sleeping badly. It can be used to help children and adolescents to understand that they are experiencing normal reactions to powerful events. It can also be used to help wider family and other people to understand how young people might be feeling.

How Trauma Can Affect You (Hebrew)

How Trauma Can Affect You (Arabic)

How Trauma Can Affect You (English US)

How Trauma Can Affect You (English GB)

Reactions To Trauma: This is an information handout designed for adults. It describes symptoms that commonly follow trauma – including re-experiencing symptoms, hyperarousal, and avoidance. It also gives helpful pointers about what to do to help someone who has experienced trauma.

Reactions To Trauma (Hebrew)

Reactions To Trauma (Arabic)

Reactions To Trauma (English US)

Reactions To Trauma (English GB)

What can you do to help?

We would like these resources to help as many people as possible. With your support we can reach a much wider network of people who have been affected by this ongoing conflict. Please share this article with colleagues, and anyone or anywhere you think the tools might be useful. You don’t need to be a member of Psychology Tools to download the resources on this page.

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“How do you do it?” said night

“How do you wake and shine?”

“I keep it simple.” Said light

“One day at a time”

Lemn Sissay , Gold from the Stone

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Fostering Connection:

Support for colleagues and clients, families and communities affected by events in Israel and Palestine

November 2023

Dr Victoria Mattison (Consultant Clinical Psychologist)

Dr Fiona Starr (Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology)

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Introduction

As the world continues to witness the deeply distressing events in Israel and Palestine, the impact is far reaching. We are particularly thinking about Muslim, Jewish and Christian families locally and colleagues and clients with relatives in the region who may have been killed, are lost or unaccounted for, taken hostage or trapped, seeking emergency shelter, having to leave their homes for safety or whose whereabouts are unknown.

We are also aware that this remains a particularly challenging time for many colleagues working to support others in schools, colleges, workplaces and services, as well as families we see with loved ones who are affected. The conflict is a complex and sensitive issue and we have been witnessing communities here in the UK divided by events. We recognise how understandably anxious and affected colleagues and clients will be and the need to hold on to mutual respect, understanding, kindness and inclusive  intentions in our communications with each other. When we know someone has connections to the region, they will likely appreciate you checking in with them, seeing how they are and acknowledging it is an unthinkably difficult time.

This guidance is intended to support all those who are connected to and affected in some way by these events, with recommendations for additional sources of support included. Our thoughts and sincere condolences are with our colleagues, teachers, families, children, young people and local communities.