We have recently created a 'becoming trauma aware' intro level elearn course for our child and family social services staff and have tackled some of these head on right at the start of the course. We get the learner to sort into true or false some of the comments we have heard. I have copied and pasted it here for you:
For some of you, this will not be the first time you have heard the term 'trauma' in relation to working with families and whānau. It is increasingly appearing in the social service and education settings. People react differently to new concepts or phrases that become more popular, so we'd like to clarify a few myths. Click and slide the following ten cards into the correct category - true or false.
Including a focus on trauma...
FALSE
- is a deficit approach focusing on the negative
- ignores strengths and resilience
- is just a fad that will go out of fashion
- is culturally insensitive
- means any behaviour is acceptable
TRUE
- ensures we recognise when standard actions won't work
- enhances other well established ways of relating
- enables tamariki & whānau to learn better outcomes are possible
- strengthens our obligation to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi
- means benefiting from recent neuroscience knowledge
(because this is a New Zealand course, it is culturally located. Whānau = A Māori form of family generally much wider than nuclear, tamariki = Māori for children, Te Tiriti o Waitangi = a treaty signed between most Māori chiefs and the colonising British Crown that has had many violations resulting in historical trauma for Māori, and is recieving significant efforts at redress in the past few decades)