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Focus on the Stages of Healing
HEALING STAGESOF
THE HEALING PROCESS 1 Safety and Stabilization Individuals establish personal security, learn coping skills to manage strong emotions and feelings, and learn self-care strategies. 2 Remembrance and Mourning Individuals review traumatic events they have endured and process emotions in order to work through grief. 3 Reconnection and Integration Individuals build upon the process they have learned by implementing coping skills and self-care strategies in their daily lives. Childhood trauma involves an overwhelming or upsetting experience which is referred to as a traumatic event.
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In the wake of COVID-19, it is helpful for children to process and work through trauma associated with the pandemic. Children have likely experienced trauma as a result of school closing and time spent sheltering at home. COVID-19 was sudden and overwhelming. Many children find themselves in isolation. This isolation can be new and scary for children. Children feel anxious and uncertain when they went from in-person classes to eLearning. Some students found the loss of access to school services upsetting and, in some cases, devastating. As children work through the trauma of COVID-19 it is helpful to integrate the 3 stages of healing. The three stages of healing are 1. Safety & Stabilization, 2. Remembrance & Mourning, and 3. Reconnection & Integration. The lessons that follow are structured around the first of these three stages. Divided into lessons for elementary, middle, and high school, these are designed to be used in a class or group setting by anyone working with young people.