How Community Members Can Help:
After violence or disaster community members should:
- Identify and address their own feelings — this will allow them to help others
- Allow children to:
- Express feelings
- Discuss the event
- Before going back to routines
- But not if children don't want to
- Use their buildings and institutions as gathering places to promote support
- Help people identify resources available to provide assistance
- Emphasize community strengths and resources that sustain hope
- Be sensitive to:
- Difficult behavior
- Strong emotions
- Different cultural responses
- Get mental health professionals to:
- Counsel children
- Help them see that fears are normal
- Offer play therapy
- Offer art therapy
- Help children develop
- Coping skills
- Problem-solving skills
- Ways to deal with fear
- Hold parent meetings to discuss:
- The event
- Their child’s response
- How help is being given to their child
- How parents can help their child
- Other available support
Previous: Helping Young Trauma Survivors Next: Help for all People in the First Days and Weeks
Options
Related Information
- See all NIMH publications about:
- Browse Mental Health Topics
- About NIMH Publications




