How to Support a Child Who Has Witnessed Violence*

• Healing begins with relationships. The adult helping relationship is the most powerful tool we have to assist children in healing from traumatic events.
• Help children know what to expect. Provide a highly structured and predictable home and learning environment for children.
• Give children permission to tell their stories. It helps children to be able to talk about the violence in their lives with trusted adults.
• Give parents support. Help parents understand that young children think differently than adults and need careful explanations about scary events.
• Foster children’s self-esteem. Children who live with violence need reminders that they are lovable, competent and important.
• Don’t try it alone. Identify and collaborate with other caregivers in the child’s life.
• Teach alternatives to violence. Help children learn conflict resolution skills and about non-violent ways of playing.
• Model nurturing in your interactions with children. Serve as role models for children in resolving issues in respectful and non-violent ways.

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