We recently published a mandatory course called Communicating with Children on our Moodle learning platform.
It was developed in partnership with our sister company JSA Psychotherapy Limited.
One common trait amongst the children that we care for is them having a negative perception of themselves.
It is important for our therapeutic caregivers to understand this and know how they can help to change those negative perceptions.
We drew on the book “How to Talk so Kids Will Listen…And Listen So Kids Will Talk” for some of our suggestions.
We encouraged our caregivers to:
- Look for the child’s best.
- Validate other behaviours.
- Help the child view themselves differently.
When a child persistently behaves in a particular way, it is very easy to fall into the trap of assigning them a role. E.g., a child who is avoidant, stubborn, cheeky, etc.
We recommend that our therapeutic caregivers:
- Deliberately plan a campaign to free a child from the role.
- Look for opportunities to show the child a new picture of themselves.
- Put the child in a situation where they can see themselves differently.
There are other techniques that our therapeutic caregivers can use to help change a child’s negative perception:
- Let the child overhear you say something positive about them.
- Model the behaviour you would like to see.
- Be a mine of information for your child’s finest moments.
- When they behave according to the old label, state your feelings and your expectations.
This is just the beginning.
We have written the course to provide our therapeutic caregivers with a baseline of knowledge and skills.
However, there is more for us all to learn. With our work with JSA Psychotherapy Limited, we are developing our capabilities as trauma informed therapeutic caregivers.
As such, we do not focus on the child’s behaviours. Instead, we look for what sits behind them. i.e. Why are they behaving the way that they are?
Over time, as we learn more, we will incorporate lessons that we learn, into our policies, procedures, and future training.
