EmerGen Workers connect to talk about Kids and Trauma

We are going through some pretty crazy times and it can be very traumatic for kids. How do we support them? When do we need to connect them in with counsellors, what can we do in the short term to support them in the moment?

David Goodwin, Child Psychologist and founder of Kidsreach spent the morning introducing Emerging Gen workers to his resource – Feelings are good. Most recently created for the Bushfires, he has used the process, for Tsunami’s, Earthquakes and trauma all over the world. The simple 10 step process reminds us of the importance of listening, speaking the truth about a situation, reassurance, providing options for dealing with feelings that the individual can choose and moving to helping others. The process can be contextualised for a variety of ages.

Our second session, we talked with Anthony Rees about the Traumatic texts in the Old Testament, explored the easy question “Who is God?” and whether the God we know is the same as the one we find in the Old Testament. Anthony reminded us that we need to hear the story all the way to the end, that children have great imaginations and to hear the stories for the lesson they are trying to teach us, to remind us that how we experience God matters but above all to remember that God is mysterious.

Jules from Wesley in Canberra concluded our session by sharing her process for creating resources. She shared the importance of knowing your children, their families and your community when engaging in connecting faith. She had great practical ideas of engaging kids spiritually and shared her resource on the journey to the cross.

It was a deep and engaging day but we do miss the Hogs Breath lunch! Looking forward to the next one!