For Caregivers

Help a Child
How to Intervene

There is no age at which a child is immune to the effects of violence. As health professionals, concerned parents, caregivers, and citizens, we must work tirelessly to reduce, if not eliminate violence in the lives of children. Interventions with children who are affected by violence require multiple disciplines and careful collaboration. No one profession can succeed alone. Families are best helped when health providers, mental health providers, educators, police and the courts work together.

What Parents and Caregivers Can Do

Remember: Children are not little adults. They have different and unique ways of understanding violence. Listen carefully to how they make sense of what happened.

• Use reassurance and a calm voice when talking to a child, especially in the aftermath of violence. Give children permission to tell their stories. Sometimes it is difficult to listen to the child’s distress, but talking helps children heal.
• Remind children that the violence is not their fault, and it is not their job to solve adult problems.
• Remember, you can get specific help from professionals in planning how to talk to children about the violence they may have witnessed.
• Work to create a stable, safe environment for the child.

What Neighbors Can Do

• If you know of a child who is witnessing violence, you can help the child by helping his/her parents. In the case of domestic violence, you can help by supporting and helping the battered partner.
  
• Call the resources listed in this web site to ask questions and get support for yourself as well as the person you are concerned about.
• Be supportive of your neighbor or friend and express your concern. Simple statements like, “I am concerned about you. How have you been doing?” can make a lasting difference.
• Share the telephone numbers of support services with the person you think is in need of the information. If the violence is domestic violence, share those numbers privately.
• Be willing to make a phone call for your friend or neighbor.
• If needed, help them get to a safe place. Perhaps give them a ride or call a taxi for them.
• If possible, help them find a safe place to stay.
• If necessary, support them in getting legal or housing assistance.
• Remember that if the violence you are concerned about is domestic violence, you don’t help the victim by confronting the batterer yourself. Have trained professionals respond.

What Professionals Can Do 
There are many counseling treatments for children who are exposed to violence that have been carefully evaluated for their effectiveness. A list of evidence-based trauma-focused counseling interventions can be found at www.nctsn.org. 

While there are differences in how these interventions are delivered, they share the same core components of focus. They:

• Stabilize the environment for the child and the family.
  
• Give family members support and information about how children respond to witnessing violence. Caregivers may be unaware of how affected young children are from exposure to violent behavior.
• Work with caregivers to create strategies for reducing symptoms and managing challenging behaviors.
• Help the child and the caregiver understand the child's perspective of the violent event(s).
• Help the child to tell the story of the traumatic event in play or words. 
• Correct cognitive distortions or misunderstandings about the event.
  
• Provide activities that promote a child’s competence and self-esteem.
  
• Collaborate with all agencies and care providers that are part of a child’s life.

* Reprinted from The Child Witness to Violence Project, Boston Medical Center