Working with Grieving and Traumatized Children and Adolescents
Discovering What Matters Most Through Evidence-Based, Sensory Interventions

A structured, sequential, and evidence-based approach for the treatment of children and adolescents experiencing trauma or grief

Working With Grieving and Traumatized Children and Adolescents features the Structured Sensory Interventions for Traumatized Children, Adolescents and Parents (SITCAP) intervention model, proven in successfully addressing violent situations such as murder, domestic violence, and physical abuse, as well as non-violent grief- and trauma-inducing situations including divorce, critical injuries, car fatalities, terminal illness, and environmental disasters.

Filled with practical and proven activities for use with children and adolescents experiencing trauma and grief, this resource is based on the authors' experience working with all types of traumatic events in school-, agency-, and community-based programs across the country.

Foreword xi

Preface xv

Acknowledgments xix

Chapter One How Structured, Sensory Interventions Help Grieving and Traumatized Children 1

Chapter Two Children's Experiences With Grief and Trauma 21

Chapter Three Trauma-Informed Principles and Practices 45

Chapter Four Structured Drawing Activities 67

Chapter Five Curiosity and the Trauma Questioning Process 85

Chapter Six Meeting Children in Their World 103

Chapter Seven Incorporating SITCAP in Schools and Community-Based Organizations 123

Chapter Eight Interventions With Parents and Guardians 145

Chapter Nine Nurturing Resilience and Posttraumatic Growth 171

Appendices

A. What If? Questions 193

B. SITCAP Program Activity Examples 209

C. School Recovery Protocol 221

D. Resilience Resources for Teachers 227

About the Authors 229

References 231

Author Index 243

Subject Index 245

WILLIAM STEELE, PsyD, MSW, is the founder of the National Institute for Trauma and Loss in Children (TLC) established in 1990, where he has personally trained more than 5,000 TLC Certified Trauma and Loss School and Clinical Specialists.

CAELAN KUBAN, PsyD, LMSW, is Director of TLC, a program of the Starr Global Learning Network. She provides training across the country to professionals working with traumatized children and families.