Affect Identification and Modulation- Why do we teach feeling identification and regulation to children who have experienced trauma?
Goals
To help children identify, regulate and express feelings more effectively
Decrease avoidance strategies
Challenges
Children with developmental disabilities have:
Difficulty identifying emotions in self and others
Difficulty expressing emotion via facial gestures and/ or verbal statements
Sensory sensitivity
impulsivity
agitation and more prone to anxiety
more behavioral issues, may be quick to hit, punch, kick when agitated
Skills
Provide repetition and reinforcement
o Repeat skills and concepts in session
o Assign homework to practice skills taught in session
o Use consistent praise and rewards as reinforcement of positive behavior
Photo Feeling Cards
Grosso, C. (2012) Children with developmental disabilities. In J.A. Cohen, A.P. Mannarino, E. Deblinger (Eds.), Trauma focused cbt for children and adolescents (pp. 149-174). NY: Guildford.