Resources to Manage Behavioral Challenges in School-Age Children Exposed to Trauma

Effectively managing behavioral challenges in school-age children can be difficult for parents and caregivers, especially when the child has experienced a traumatic event. Further your knowledge on the important role child- and family-serving professionals play in supporting safe, stable, nurturing relationships between caregivers and school-age children who have experienced trauma.

This blog post serves as a companion resource to CalTrin’s Trauma, Parenting, and Challenging Behaviors (School-Age) self-paced course. The course was adapted from the CalTrin-hosted webinar of the same name that Melissa Bernstein, PhD, presented on March 30, 2023.

CalTrin’s Trauma, Parenting, and Challenging Behaviors (School-Age) training, facilitated by Dr. Melissa Bernstein, provides foundational information on the impact of trauma on parenting and reviews strategies for helping caregivers identify and respond to challenging behaviors for school-age children exposed to trauma. Effectively managing behavioral challenges in school-age children can be difficult for parents and caregivers, especially when the child has experienced a traumatic event. She notes that as child- and family-serving professionals, our goal is to help partner with and equip caregivers as they learn and practice trauma-informed strategies to shape difficult behaviors.

By ensuring a strong partnership with caregivers and creating space for the support they need, we increase the likelihood of successful outcomes for their child.

Dr. Bernstein also explores why children who experience a traumatic event often lose their sense of control. This can lead to behavioral issues as they grapple with overwhelming emotions and feelings of helplessness. In response, they may exhibit disruptive or challenging behaviors as a means to regain a sense of control or to express their distress. By providing a diverse range of strategies to caregivers, we can help equip them with effective tools to confidently manage challenging behaviors in their children. The self-paced course reviews these five strategies in depth:

Modeling Calm
Routines and Rituals
Routines and Rewards
Active Ignoring
Time-Out

The goal is to help the caregiver learn and apply these strategies gradually, one at a time, without adding to their stress by overwhelming them with multiple techniques all at once. Although each technique is effective, it often takes time and effort to implement.

The resources highlighted below are intended to be used with CalTrin’s Trauma, Parenting, and Challenging Behaviors (School-Age) self-paced course to help further your knowledge and emphasize the important role child- and family-serving professionals play in supporting safe, stable, nurturing relationships between caregivers and school-age children who have experienced trauma. For a deeper dive into toxic stress cycles and trauma recovery, read CalTrin’s Introduction to Childhood Trauma: Resources & Tools for Providers post.

Trauma, Parenting, & Challenging Behaviors (School-Age) Resources

California Training Institute (CalTrin)

Hey, that’s us! Access recordings and materials from prior CalTrin trainings related to this topic, browse our self-paced courses, keep an eye on the calendar for upcoming webinars and workshops, and explore our relevant resource collections:

Calendar of Live Webinars and Workshops

Training Archive – Revisit recordings and materials from prior CalTrin trainings:

Self-Paced Courses

Microlearnings

Relevant CalTrin Blogs

Handout:
- Trauma-informed Practical Applications for Engaging Children & Families Exposed to Trauma

Note: You will need to log in to your CalTrin account to access the self-paced courses and select archived training materials. You can create a free account here.

Advancing California’s Trauma-Informed Systems (ACTS)

Advancing California’s Trauma-Informed Systems (ACTS) is a collaboration between the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) Office of Child Abuse and Prevention (OCAP) and the Chadwick Center at Rady Children’s Hospital–San Diego. ACTS supports child-serving systems in finding their unique path to advance innovative, trauma-informed change that will support the workforce and lead to improved outcomes for children and families. ACTS has compiled a comprehensive list of evidence-based and trauma-informed resources geared towards child- and family-serving and mental health professionals at all levels. To review a collection of resources focused on supporting caregivers of children and youth who have experienced trauma, click here.

ACTS also developed a series of learning videos to support child-serving systems in advancing trauma-informed practices. Each series consists of 3-5 microlearning videos with a discussion guide to facilitate continued conversation and learning:

Echo

Echo provides trauma and resilience training for families, communities, professionals, and organizations. It draws on the latest scientific research on trauma, emotional regulation techniques, and nonviolent communication to empower survivors and educate those who support them.

The following Echo infographics will help you identify the underlying cause of a child’s behavior and guide you step-by-step in a trauma-informed response:

What Lies Beneath Behavior: This handy infographic is designed to help adults—and teachers in particular—use a process of elimination to figure out what’s going on with a child whose behavior is causing concern. It starts with basic human needs and progresses to the more serious impacts of trauma.
What Do I Do?: Trauma-Informed Support for Children: After you’ve worked through the questions in “What Lies Beneath Behavior,” use this infographic for a step-by-step guide to work out a trauma-informed response.

Explore additional Infographics and Videos from Echo.

National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN)

The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) was created by Congress in 2000 to raise the standard of care and increase access to services for children and families who experience or witness traumatic events. This unique network of frontline providers, family members, researchers, and national partners is committed to changing the course of children’s lives by improving their care and moving scientific gains quickly into practice across the U.S. View the NCTSN’s extensive collection of child trauma resources (información en español), including:

Oklahoma University Health Sciences Center on Child Abuse and Neglect

The Center on Child Abuse and Neglect (CCAN) serves to organize the Health Sciences Center’s efforts in the treatment and prevention of child abuse and neglect. CCAN directs research, program administration, clinical services, professional education, program development, and public education in the field of child maltreatment.

CCAN’s Child Trauma Services program created the following resources:

Sesame Workshop

One of the resources recommended as part of the Trauma, Parenting, and Challenging Behaviors (School-Age) training is Sesame Street’s Common and Colbie Caillat Sing “Belly Breathe” with Elmo (2:25). In this singalong video, children are taught that when they feel like a monster, they should put their hand over their tummy and belly breathe right through it.

Sesame Workshop has also created a Traumatic Experiences resource hub featuring articles, videos, printables, games, trainings, and more geared toward helping children ages 0-6 and grownups work through traumatic experiences. These materials are also available in Spanish (en Español).

Social Emotional Workshop

The Social Emotional Workshop provides tips, activities, strategies, and practices to build social-emotional skills. Feelings Thermometers are reusable, research-based tools that help kids:

put a situation in perspective,
build self-awareness,
develop a self-management plan, and
connect thoughts, feelings, and actions.

Visit the Social Emotional Workshop to learn about Feelings Thermometers and access free downloads.

Additional Resources

Dr. Bruce Perry/MLA Counseling Services: Understanding Dysregulation: How to Support a Highly Emotional Child (Infographic)

Stress and Development Lab, University of Washington: How Can Trauma Affect the Brain?

UK Trauma Council: Childhood Trauma and the Brain (5:10)