Trauma education

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Trauma pedagogy (trauma from ancient Greek τραῦμα "wound", pedagogy from Greek παιδαγωγία "education, instruction") is a collective term for pedagogical approaches and methods when working with children and young people, especially in inpatient child and youth welfare. Trauma pedagogy is based on the cooperation of therapy and pedagogy and represents an overall concept that is based on the knowledge and insights of educational science, psychotraumatology, attachment theory, resilience research and trauma therapy and postulates that knowledge about trauma is an important part of pedagogy is and thus transfers this knowledge into the educational field. The goal of trauma education is the emotional and social stabilization of children and young people. The basis for this is the creation of a safe place with reliable and trusting relationships. Building trust and providing support in coping with traumatic events play an important role.

Demarcation

Trauma pedagogy represents an overall concept of pedagogy in work with children and adolescents. It is therefore neither to be understood as a therapeutic approach nor as a concrete procedure in conflict situations with children and adolescents.

Origin & history

The history of trauma education can be traced back to the history of curative education : Michael Borbonus, geb. 1952, since 1973 worked as a curative teacher and social therapist in various inpatient youth welfare facilities. Myrrah, the first therapeutic residential group for sexually abused girls, was set up by Michael Borbonus in Berlin in 1986. He was also a co-founder of the advice center “Kind im Zentrum eV - social therapeutic help for sexually abused children and their families” in Berlin.

As early as the mid-80s it was possible to attend trauma education seminars at “Kind im Zentrum”. These seminars combined knowledge from curative education with knowledge from psychotherapy and psychotraumatology and served to improve child and youth welfare. These seminars can be traced back to the meeting of Michael Borbonus and the qualified psychologist and psychological psychotherapist Oliver Schubbe at “Kind im Zentrum”. In 1994 Schubbe published the anthology "Therapeutic aids against sexual abuse of children". In 1990, Michael Borbonus and Oliver Schubbe founded the Institute for Trauma Education and Therapy, thereby creating a new technical term. According to Martin Kühn, qualified disabled pedagogue, there are four reasons that led to the emergence of trauma pedagogy:

  1. History of home education : The history of home education in the 20th century is often determined by violence and renewed retraumatisation. Trauma pedagogy sees itself as an opponent of all interpersonal and institutional violence.
  2. In the classics of educational specialist literature, behaviors of children are described that are similar to those of traumatized stress reactions. Trauma pedagogy thus takes up old knowledge in a new way.
  3. The interdisciplinary discourse: New findings from neurophysiology and psychotraumatology have led to new methods and discussions in pedagogy, as this is an open discipline.
  4. The “reality” in inpatient youth welfare: Interdisciplinary cooperation promotes the support of children and means that responsibility is no longer shifted back and forth between education and psychotherapy or psychiatry. Instead, dialogue and constructive cooperation are encouraged.

Wilma Weiß, b. 1951, qualified pedagogue and qualified social pedagogue, co-founded the Federal Working Group for Trauma Pedagogy (BAG-TP) and is therefore one of the founders of trauma pedagogy in Germany. Wilma Weiß also heads the Wave Center for Dream Education in Hanau .

Mode of action and background

Traumatization affects a person's entire life. It is not uncommon for people to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after trauma . People with traumatic experiences usually have a reduced stress tolerance, high-risk behavior, attachment problems, problems with emotion regulation and impulse control, as well as symptoms of PTSD. All of this leads to an immense reduction in the quality of life and behavior patterns that appear irrational and incomprehensible. These behaviors limit the person and interfere with the way they interact with others. Children and adolescents in inpatient facilities have mostly experienced traumatic life events and thus bring problems and restrictive behaviors with them. For pedagogical specialists, this represents an enormous challenge and burden. It is not only important to help the children and young people adequately deal with and deal with their trauma, but also to counteract their own overload. Trauma pedagogy is used to learn to understand the behavior of traumatized children and adolescents, to open up new perspectives and to point out new ways of acting. Consequently, trauma pedagogical work serves to reduce feelings of helplessness and ineffectiveness among staff. Those affected learn to understand their own behavior and thus have the opportunity to break old behavior patterns and develop alternative behavior patterns. Consequently, trauma pedagogy acts as a relief for everyone involved in everyday pedagogical work.

techniques

The Federal Working Group on Trauma Education prioritizes self-efficacy / empowerment of children and young people. A distinction can be made between two levels of impact: on the one hand, the effects on the educational specialists and, on the other hand, the effects on children and young people. In the following, the possibilities of the intervention are briefly discussed, with emphasis on the level of action in children and adolescents.

  1. Promotion of self-understanding: explanations for behavior and which processes occur in the head during stress and trauma are provided.
  2. Promotion of body and sensory perception: Here, different sensory stimuli are addressed. For example, young people learn to differentiate between pleasant and unpleasant stimuli.
  3. Promotion of emotion regulation: Emotion regulation is improved through psychoeducation and direct learning.
  4. Promotion of physical and psychological resilience: In this context, resilience, skills, strengths and interests are promoted.
  5. Promotion of self-regulation: Emergency strategies, reorientation methods, relaxation methods as well as knowledge and understanding of flashbacks and dissociation are conveyed.
  6. Opportunities for social participation: There are offers of active lifestyle, retreat and demarcation as well as opportunities for participation (e.g. having a say).
  7. Group pedagogy: In everyday group life, trauma-related aspects of group dynamics are made understandable and targeted handling is learned.
  8. Attachment education: For this purpose, attachment experiences are recorded as well as attachment-promoting behavior and stabilization.
  9. Parental work: The parents and the entire biography of the children can be involved in the process.

Attitude of the educator

Trauma education is based on an appreciative and understanding attitude of the educators. In doing so, trauma education focuses on the resources and resilience of children and young people. Trauma pedagogy postulates that knowledge of the consequences of traumatization and biographical stress is essential for such an attitude. According to the BAG-TP, this attitude is based on five pillars:

  1. The acceptance of the good reason: In order to survive trauma, children and adolescents develop certain behaviors. These behaviors often have a negative impact on the educators and the other group participants. Due to the stress that occurs, it can happen that the appreciation and appreciation of a behavior as a necessary survival strategy is lost. Trauma pedagogy sees itself as a measure to counteract this development / attitude.
  2. Appreciation: trauma pedagogical work aims to create a safe place in which children and young people can develop a positive self-image of themselves. The self-esteem and self-confidence of the children and young people should grow through the appreciation of the trauma educators. At the same time, distorted cognitions and attitudes should be corrected in the process of trauma pedagogical work.
  3. Participation: In order to counteract low expectations of self-efficacy and the feeling of loss of control, it is important that children and young people actively work on their living conditions. The experience of autonomy, competence and belonging serves as necessary motivation and must be conveyed by the trauma educators.
  4. Transparency: It is necessary that the children and young people get a feeling of predictability and transparency. This is especially true in relation to their own behaviors. If the children are not offered explanations and interpretations of their own behavior, they run the risk of devaluing themselves.
  5. Fun and joy: In order to counteract stress and feelings such as fear and shame, it is essential to create fun and joy in everyday life. Existing resources have to be strengthened and new ones discovered.

Possible applications

Trauma pedagogical work is particularly suitable for inpatient child and youth welfare. Continuing education in trauma education is particularly suitable for social workers, social pedagogues, social workers and managers of social institutions. In addition, therapists, psychiatrists and psychologists who work in this field can also benefit from it.

Scientific reception

The effectiveness of trauma pedagogical work has been examined in various studies: After training in trauma pedagogy, specialists not only have better theoretical specialist knowledge, but also a statistically better handling of flashbacks, the recognition of triggers, and the recognition of attachment needs and problems. Problematic behaviors decrease significantly, which in turn leads to a changed attitude towards children and adolescents. According to Macsenaerae and Klein, trained professionals attach great importance to self-care and thus actively prevent their own overload. Schmid et al. (2007) were able to show that in facilities with trained staff, children and young people talk more openly about experiences and feelings. In addition, the young people feel more respected and accepted. Two years after the start of trauma pedagogical training, there was also a reduction in symptoms / deficits in the young people.

qualification

In 2010 the BAG Trauma Pedagogy and the German-speaking Society for Psychotraumatology (DeGPT) worked together. In the course of this, the standards for qualification for trauma education and trauma-centered specialist counseling were set. The standards for trauma-pedagogical practice in child and youth welfare followed in 2011. With regard to the framework conditions for the certification of further training, a draft of the GPTG e. V. (DeGPT, BAGG-TP). According to this draft, the admission requirements for further training are the completion of a university or technical college degree in a human sciences discipline or vocational training in the psychosocial field. Furthermore, at least two years of professional experience are required. The GPTG issues its own certificate which certifies that the respective institute is running a curriculum under the responsible direction of a lecturer recognized by the GPTG.

distribution

The need for trauma education is now recognized. There are already 26 recognized training institutes for trauma education and trauma-centered specialist advice in Germany alone.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e M. Huber, P. Orville (ed.): Trauma pedagogy. Basics for everyday educational life. March 28, 2015, accessed from http://www.traumapaedagogik.at/
  2. ↑ a b c d e f Federal Working Group on Trauma Pedagogy (BAG TP) eV: Standards for trauma pedagogical concepts in inpatient child and youth welfare. A position paper of the BAG trauma education. Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Traumapädagogik e. V., Gnarrenburg 2011.
  3. ↑ a b J. Bausum, L. Besser, M. Kühn, W. Weiß (eds.): Trauma pedagogy. Basics, fields of work and methods for educational practice. Juventa, Landsberg 2011.
  4. ↑ SB Gahleitner: The therapeutic milieu in working with children and adolescents. Trauma and relationship work in inpatient facilities. Psychiatrie Verlag Bonn 2010.
  5. ↑ Martin Kühn: Why do we need trauma education? Approaching a new technical term. In: M. Schmid, JM Fegert (ed.): Trauma & violence. 2 (4), 2008, pp. 318-327.
  6. ↑ a b c M. Macsenaere, J. Klein: Evaluation of the trauma education training project in the St. Mauritz child and youth welfare service in Münster. Lecture as part of the symposium "Trauma Education - A Hopeful Path in Inpatient Youth Welfare". 2011, Retrieved from Archived Copy ( Memento of the original from April 3, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.st-mauritz.de
  7. ↑ a b R. Schelling: Institute for Trauma Therapy Oliver Schubbe. 2010, accessed from http://www.traumatherapie.de/users/schelling/schelling1.html
  8. ^ O. Schubbe: EMDR, Brainspotting and Somatic Experiencing in the Treatment of Post-Trauma Disorders. In: Psychotherapist Journal. 2, 2014, pp. 156-163.
  9. ↑ a b M. Schmid, B. Lang, K. Jaszkowic, C. Jaritz, JM Fegert, D. Wiesinger: Do we need trauma-pedagogical concepts in inpatient youth welfare? In: DGSF (Ed.): Context. 38 (4), 2007, pp. 330-356.
  10. ↑ M. Schmid: Dance on the volcano. Developmental psychopathological basics of trauma education. Lecture at the symposium “Traumatized Girls and Boys” at the Catholic University of Applied Sciences in Mainz, 2011, retrieved from http://www.kfh-mainz.de/aktuelles/pdf/Traum/Traumapaedagogik_VortragSchmid.pdf
  11. ^ M. Schmid: Care settings for (complex) traumatized children: Optimizing concepts and structures. Lecture at ConSozial 2012. Retrieved from http://www.equals.ch/daten/betreuungssettings-fuer-traumatisierte-kinder.pdf
  12. ↑ Wilma Weiß: What helps? - Educational possibilities for correcting traumatic experiences. 2009, accessed from http://www.traumapaedagogik.de/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=89:qas-hilftq-paedagogischemoegitäten-zur-koricherung-traumatischer-erfahrungen-nutzen&catid=25:kinderund-jugendhilfe&Itemid=53
  13. ^ A b c Society for Psychotraumatology, Trauma Therapy, Violence Research (GPTG): Draft of the framework guidelines of the GPTG e. V. (DeGPT, BAG-TP) for the certification of further training. 2013.
  14. ↑ J. Klein, M. Erlacher, M. Macsenaere: The Children's Village Effects Study. Institute for Child and Youth Welfare (IKL), Mainz 2003.
  15. ↑ M. Macsenaere, K. Esser: What works in youth welfare. Reinhardt, Munich 2012.
  16. ↑ M. Macsenaere, J. Klein: Evaluation of the trauma-pedagogical training project in the St. Mauritz child and youth welfare service in Münster. Lecture as part of the symposium "Trauma Education - A Hopeful Path in Inpatient Youth Welfare". 2011, Retrieved from Archived Copy ( Memento of the original from April 3, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.st-mauritz.de
  17. ↑ M. Krautkrämer-Oberhoff, J. Klein, M. Macsenaere: Training project trauma pedagogy in the KJH St. Mauritz Münster: An institution is on its way. Our youth 2013. (submitted).