Most children who are in foster care or adopted from foster care have been through some type of trauma. After all, they’re in foster care in a reason. That reason is not because they were in a safe, structured, loving environment. Something happened to lead to the removal.
The traumatic event, and the removal itself can lead to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). According to a study by Casey Family Services in 2005, foster children are twice as likely to have PTSD as US war veterans.
The event itself does not have to appear significant to the “outside” but it will have been significant in the mind of the child.
Many people believe that having PTSD means that you have flashbacks of the traumatic event. That may not necessarily be true. Having lived with a violent child for the past eight years, I have PTSD that revolves around his violence. If Sammy is home and I hear a plate break, I will jump, my heart will race, and my breathing gets very strong. It is a reaction to stressors in my past. It varies with each child.
Helping a child heal the trauma is very difficult. One of the things that has worked well with children is Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). The concept sounds very simple when to talk to someone about it. It almost sounds too good to be true, but it’s not.
EMDR involves tapping, waving an object (usually a wand or finger) in front of patient’s eyes, or stimulating each hand alternately with vibrations. It was first developed by Francine Shapiro, Ph.D., in 1987 and specifically targets traumatic events in a person’s past.
During the therapy, the patient talks about the traumatic event during which time the therapist uses one of the methods described above. The combination of the two helps to diminish the patient’s anxiety over the event. The patient does not forget the event, but future memories are less stressful.
EMDR should ONLY be conducted by a licensed provider. Do not attempt this yourself.
Again, it sounds much more simple than it actually is. If you are interested in learning more about EMDR, consult one of the websites listed below or check out one of the 981 books on Amazon.com related to EMDR.
I have heard good things about EMDR from adult survivors of childhood abuse. They say that when they remember a traumatizing event, the powerful painful emotions are no longer experienced.
“If Sammy is home and I hear a plate break, I will jump, my heart will race, and my breathing gets very strong.”
This actually is a flashback, just not a visual one. Many people mistakenly believe that flashbacks are only visual experiences, but they can be experienced through others senses and/or through a flood of emotions. Your hearing the plate break triggers the emotions associated with a prior traumatic experience.
Good post!
- Faith
Thanks Faith. There is a presentation on EMDR at the ATN conference next week. If you can’t make the conference, there will be CDs and DVDs available.
I have complete trust in the people that are doing the presentation and would see them for EMDR if they weren’t over 1000 miles away!
My son has been in a few foster care homes and this being the worst. For he was outside with some other teenages and one teenager had a bow and arrow. My son got shot in the eye with one and had to be transported to a better hospital for surgery in the middle of the night. He stayed in recovery for 7 hours awaiting a room. Now he will be blind in one eye and social worker said it was a freak uncontrolable
accident. Yea right! I cannot believe this since I am the biological mother and my son wants to come and stay with me because he is now 16 and wants out. He is not in a safe environment do to this happening recently.
Kelly, is rapid eye movement an integral part of PTSD? My 17 year old has PTSD and has periods where his eyes are moving constatntly. The eye doc is OK with it, but the Endocrinologist about goes bonkers observing it. Does EMDR stop these episodes? John
If it is part of his PTSD it will help to diminish that.
People with PTSD are also hyper vigilant. They are always on alert waiting for the next “event” to happen. These are the kids who notice everything. They can tell you if you have rearranged some knick knacks, or describe in detail the person who just passed you in another car.
Check out the link to the EMDR Institute to help find a provider in your area. You can talk to him or her to get an idea of what type of therapy they would do.
Thanks Kelly, you have just described my son nicely. I will check it out. John