Healing Trauma in Children: A practical guide for foster and kinship carers

Foster and kinship carers play a vital role in our community. Their task is not an easy one. They are caring for vulnerable children who have come from complicated, often chaotic, backgrounds. As de facto parents, carers may experience family situations that can seem overwhelming in the face of a child's challenging behaviour. Most children in care do not settle quickly and can become disruptive, affecting the entire family.

The underlying cause for most of this challenging, disruptive behaviour stems from the child's experience of early life trauma. Children with traumatic backgrounds have difficulty regulating their emotions. They lack the cortical capacity to efficiently process their thoughts and feelings, making it hard for them to change their behaviour to fit into their new life. Many carers are unprepared for the level of support, intensive focus, and effort these children need. Typical parenting strategies may not work.

That's why Sonia Kennedy wrote Healing Trauma in Children as a practical guide. Sonia is an Australian clinical social worker who has spent over 20 years working with adults and children treating post-trauma stress reactions, complex PTSD, anxiety and depression in various community settings, including child protection, corrections, and family counselling. She has seen firsthand how hard it is for even experienced and committed foster and kinship carers to cope with the behavioural effects of childhood trauma exhibited by those placed in their loving care.

She knows that foster and kinship carers need easy-to-access answers for everyday issues. Unlike a text heavy on theory, her book allows the reader to access information quickly when needed. Most importantly, it offers detailed strategies for day-to-day emergencies and long-term solutions. It is not about medication; it's not about behaviour management plans, punishment, judgement, or diagnosis. It is about developing a carer's awareness, kindness, compassion, patience, strength, and education. Healing Trauma aims to help carers understand trauma and its impact on the vulnerable child they are caring for; to help that child manage their future so the past trauma doesn't take over and control their life.

Issues covered include:

- Sleep

- Calm down strategies for emotions

- Anger

- Anxiety

- Withdrawal and Sadness

- Social skills

- Attachment

- Family contact

- Toilet issues

- Eating habits

- Lying and stealing

- Sexualised behaviour

- Boundaries and routines

- Diet

- Hygiene

- Healthy relationships

- Self-esteem

- Identity and culture

Sonia Kennedy is an Australian clinical social worker with over 20 years of private and public clinical and training experience. She is an accredited mental health clinician and an approved counsellor with Victim Services NSW and has worked with adults, adolescents, children and adults. Sonia has experience in a range of settings, including child protection, corrections, education, and veterans and family counselling. Her professional work experience includes eight years at the Department of Family and Community Services and seventeen years in her own rural-based private practice contracting to a number of government and non-government organisations. She has provided clinical supervision to patient/client care staff and has extensive experience in cancer counselling and support, workplace and relationship issues, traumatic events, grief and loss, sexual assault, and family violence. She has significant experience in treating post-trauma stress reactions, complex PTSD, anxiety and depression. Sonia uses Trauma Informed Therapy, CBT, DBT, Systems Theory, Sensorimotor and Cross-Cultural Psychotherapy to help clients gain symptom relief and improve their general life quality. She also has specialised experience in child development, parent/child attachment and the interface of these experiences on adult health and functioning across the lifespan. Sonia's clinical focus is on effective, evidence-based practice in psychotherapy and holistic wellbeing.