{"id":4272,"date":"2022-02-24T15:14:48","date_gmt":"2022-02-24T15:14:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/?p=4272"},"modified":"2022-02-24T15:14:48","modified_gmt":"2022-02-24T15:14:48","slug":"five-ways-to-help-young-people-cope-after-a-traumatic-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/2022\/02\/24\/five-ways-to-help-young-people-cope-after-a-traumatic-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Ways to Help Young People Cope after A Traumatic Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Diana Patton
\n<\/strong>Special to The Truth<\/strong><\/p>\n

A 10-year old beautiful girl was recently\u00a0shot and died after a drive-by shooting in Toledo Ohio<\/a>. This disturbed me to my core, and I thought, “what if\u00a0that were my baby girl.” I couldn’t stop thinking about her mom.<\/p>\n

I also began to think about the sixth grade girls that I mentor at the\u00a0Ella\u00a0P. Stewart Academy for Girls<\/a> and I wondered\u00a0“how are they dealing with this?”<\/p>\n

So, the University Talented Aspiring\u00a0Women Leaders (TAWL) and I decided to bring it up as one of our\u00a0Head Full of Dreams<\/a>\u00a0topics, and I\u2019m so glad we did. The girls really opened up. One young girl was even related to the girl that was shot. My heart just swelled up!<\/p>\n

According to the\u00a0Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SMHSA)<\/a>, “More than\u00a0two thirds of children\u00a0reported at least 1 traumatic event by age 16”<\/p>\n

How can we help our young people cope after a traumatic event?<\/p>\n

I remember being a 12-year-old girl – swirling in negative, unhealthy, and abusive spaces, really wanting to share my feelings with someone, but not knowing who I could trust. There weren’t many adults I could relate to.<\/p>\n

Now, as a grown Black\u00a0woman with several lived experiences with abuse and discrimination, as a social justice advocate, former civil rights attorney, and recent\u00a0survivor of clinical\u00a0depression and anxiety after George Floyd’s was murdered, I want to share the five\u00a0ways I help young people cope after traumatic experiences \u2026\u00a0especially young Black girls because I\u2019m always thinking about what it was like for me when I was that age.<\/p>\n

I am confident these tips can help you:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Be a Person They Can Trust.\u00a0Don\u2019t expect to get young people to trust you when you haven\u2019t created a consistently loving relationship that\u2019s based in trust.<\/li>\n
  2. Create a Safe and Trusting Environment to\u00a0Talk.\u00a0When trying to connect, make sure the environment is soothing, comforting and in a place where you can openly share and feel safe. Talk about the issue,\u00a0don’t dance around it. Ask open-ended questions.<\/li>\n
  3. Learn the Art of Sharing Your Story to Create Engagement:\u00a0Open up and be vulnerable. Share your story but don\u2019t occupy the stage and be the center of attention. Share your story to be relatable.<\/li>\n
  4. Listen and Resist Fixing or Judging What they Say:\u00a0Get out of the\u00a0\u201cI have all the answers\u201d\u00a0mode and just listen. Do not say\u00a0\u201coh, well, this is what you should do, or how you should think,\u201d\u00a0or,\u00a0\u201caccording to my neuro-linguistic practitioner or therapy training, you are experiencing \u2026\u201d\u00a0NO, please stop.\u00a0Just listen!<\/li>\n
  5. Be a Consistent Source of Hope to Yourself First, then Spread it.\u00a0\u00a0Show up for yourself first, and draw from your own well of HOPE. Then, you\u2019ll have an aura of hope and it will be felt, right when you walk into a room. Focus on \u201cHelping\u00a0One\u00a0PersonEveryday\u201d – by Chris Winfield and Jen Gotlieb.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Be a blessing and do GOOD WORK!<\/p>\n

    Give back.<\/p>\n

    Serve your community.<\/p>\n

    Love unconditionally!<\/p>\n

    For more inspiration, encouragement and tips to help professional women overcome challenges, adversities and trauma, to activate their voice, and advocate for themselves, for others, and for diversity, equity and inclusion,\u00a0connect with Diana<\/a>!<\/p>\n

    Contact Diana Patton at diana@dianarpatton.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    By Diana Patton Special to The Truth A 10-year old beautiful girl was recently\u00a0shot and died after a drive-by shooting in Toledo Ohio. This disturbed me to my core, and I thought, “what if\u00a0that were my baby girl.” I couldn’t stop thinking about her mom. I also began to think about the sixth grade girls […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,17],"tags":[],"wf_post_folders":[108],"class_list":["post-4272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-headline","category-local"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4272"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4272\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4274,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4272\/revisions\/4274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4272"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=4272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}