Trauma and Teens: A Guide and Toolbox for Working Towards Wellbeing in Schools and Homes

Trauma Informed aims to create increased therapeutic and empathetic understanding of adolescents and their traumas. Part One addresses four types of trauma - acute, chronic, complex, and historic or transgenerational - through a series of case studies. The author uses the voice of the teen, the voice of the parent or carer and the voice of the educator to present each case in detail, complete with suggested interventions. Part Two focuses on simplifying therapeutic concepts such as attachment theory and the stages of grief, and the final chapter offers strategies for ongoing management in the form of a 'trauma toolbox'. This comprises grounding techniques for calming down or boosting energy, advice for self-care via good sleep and nutrition, and guidance for enabling troubled young people to feel secure, open up and begin the healing process by cultivating an attitude of PACE (Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity and Empathy).