Children and trauma: A narrative-based playgroup

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to present an eight-segment narrative-based playgroup prepared for children, especially young children, who have experienced trauma. This project addresses the children's trauma narratives. This project is based on the premise that a play therapy group allows a safe space to explore each child's experience of personal trauma. In the safe space, children experience preferred ways of relating a problem by practicing the use of externalization, which separates persons from problems. Furthermore, the mental health practitioners implement narrative approaches with the specific intention of avoiding retraumatization.