Talking Method Activities Child tells a story (allow metaphors) Puppets or a story “tell” “live” Have an open discussion - using previous questions, ask for volunteers to begin with, talk general to specific Use photos, drawings, etc. to facilitate discussions Create a skit, play or do role-playing, related to the critical incident (provide clothes if “dress-up” available, including uniforms if possible to represent emergency workers seen during the disaster, etc.) Do and tell” related to the event “show Inform/educate the children about the event to make it less threatening to talk/act about When people understand their feelings and experiences are normal and can be predicted (even if they are scary feelings) they begin to regain control Note: Remember to keep yourself in a facilitative/guiding role, not in a role of of the “control” discussions/stories etc. This will be most helpful to the children. Reassure the children by verbally acknowledging and their experiences. “normalizing” For some children, the talking method is not helpful: In some cultures, talking openly is not comfortable, appropriate (or even “polite”) Some children have been raised in families one’s feelings” was not possible “talking-out or supported Some children have been raised in situations where talking openly was not practiced or encouraged Some children simply prefer not to discuss their feelings openly due to personality type, privacy concerns or lack of trust in the process All these reasons should be respected as valid
Talking Method Activities Child tells a story (allow metaphors) Puppets “tell” or “live” a story Have an open discussion - using previous questions, ask for volunteers to begin with, talk general to specific Use photos, drawings, etc. to facilitate discussions Create a skit, play or do role-playing, related to the critical incident (provide “dress-up” clothes if available, including uniforms if possible to represent emergency workers seen during the disaster, etc.) Do “show and tell” related to the event Inform/educate the children about the event to make it less threatening to talk/act about When people understand their feelings and experiences are normal and can be predicted (even if they are scary feelings) they begin to regain control Note: Remember to keep yourself in a facilitative/guiding role, not in a role of “control” of the discussions/stories etc. This will be most helpful to the children. Reassure the children by verbally acknowledging and “normalizing” their experiences. For some children, the talking method is not helpful: In some cultures, talking openly is not comfortable, appropriate (or even “polite”) Some children have been raised in families “talking-out one’s feelings” was not possible or supported Some children have been raised in situations where talking openly was not practiced or encouraged Some children simply prefer not to discuss their feelings openly due to personality type, privacy concerns or lack of trust in the process All these reasons should be respected as valid
Emergency%20Manual%20_Microsoft%20Word.docx