S1E86: What do you say to a child facing trauma?

Synopsis: Every first and third Wednesday of the month, The Straits Times helps you make sense of health matters that affect you. The Institute of Mental Health or IMH is adopting trauma-informed care throughout the organisation. It's an approach that assumes that a person is more likely than not to have experienced a traumatic event. And it seeks to not re-traumatise patients or blame them for their efforts to manage their symptoms. In trauma-informed care, you would ask "What happened to you?” instead of "What's wrong with you?" In the second part of our series on trauma-informed care, ST senior health correspondent Joyce Teo speaks to Ms Tracy Wee. Principal Medical Social Worker at the Institute of Mental Health. She finds out how parents can make use of the approach to help their children, who may have been bullied or experienced a traumatic event. In the earlier episode on trauma-informed care, Joyce hosted Dr Ann-Marie Aboud Lo Castro, principal clinical psychologist at the department of developmental psychiatry and the project lead of the trauma-informed care approach at IMH. They discussed what trauma-informed care is about, the common traumatic events among children seeking help today and how the approach can benefit others. Highlights (click/tap above): 1:34 Importance of being trauma-informed  3:16 How can parents cope with their children's mental problems? 7:30 What can parents do to support their children? 10:01 What should parents avoid doing? 16:14 Tips for parents to deal with children's trauma Produced by: Joyce Teo ([email protected]), Ernest Luis, Teo Tong Kai, and Eden Soh Edited by: Eden Soh Follow Health Check Podcast episodes out here every first and third Wednesday of the month: Channel: https://str.sg/JWaN Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWRX Spotify: https://str.sg/JWaQ Google Podcasts: https://str.sg/J6Wv  SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg/ Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts Feedback to: [email protected] Read Joyce Teo's stories: https://str.sg/JbxN --- Discover ST's special edition podcasts: Singapore's War On Covid: https://str.sg/wuJa The Unsolved Mysteries of South-east Asia: https://str.sg/wuZ2 Stop Scams: https://str.sg/wuZB Invisible Asia: https://str.sg/wuZn --- Discover more ST podcast series: Asian Insider: https://str.sg/JWa7 Green Pulse: https://str.sg/JWaf In Your Opinion: https://str.sg/w7Qt Your Money & Career: https://str.sg/wB2m #PopVultures: https://str.sg/JWad ST Sports Talk: https://str.sg/JWRE Bookmark This!: https://str.sg/JWas Lunch With Sumiko: https://str.sg/J6hQ Discover ST Podcasts: http://str.sg/stpodcasts Discover BT Podcasts: https://bt.sg/pcPL Follow our shows then, if you like short, practical podcasts! #healthcheckSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.