Trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy for young children: clinical considerations

ABSTRACT

Trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (TF-CBT) has been utilized with children of a wide age range and with diverse trauma experiences. This article will focus on the application of TF-CBT to young children. After presenting an overview of the model, challenges and developmentally-sensitive and creative strategies for engaging young children and their caregivers in TF-CBT PRACTICE components will be highlighted. A brief review of the strong empirical support for TF-CBT will then be provided.

 

La Terapia Cognitiva Conductual centrada en el trauma (TCC-CT) se ha utilizado con niños de un amplio rango de edad y con diversas experiencias traumáticas. Este artículo se centrará en la aplicación de TCC-CT a niños pequeños. Después de presentar una descripción general del modelo, se resaltarán los desafíos y las estrategias creativas y sensibles al desarrollo para involucrar a los niños pequeños y sus cuidadores en los componentes de PRÁCTICA de TCC-CT. A continuación, se proporcionará un breve análisis del fuerte apoyo empírico para la TCC-CT.

 

创伤中心的认知行为疗法（TF-CBT）使用于广泛年龄段和多种创伤经历的儿童。本文将集中讨论在幼儿中应用 TF-CBT。在综述这个模型之后，将重点指出让幼儿及其照顾者参与到 TF-CBT 实践中遭遇的挑战、发展有关的策略和创造性方法。接下会提及到支持TF-CBT的强有力的实证证据的综述。

KEYWORDS:

• Childhood trauma
• TF-CBT
• young children
• preschoolers
• caregivers
• developmental considerations

PALABRAS CLAVE:

• trauma en la infancia
• TCC-CT
• Niños pequeños
• Preescolares
• Cuidadores
• Consideraciones sobre el desarrollo

关键词:

• 童年创伤
• TF-CBT
• 幼儿
• 学前儿童
• 照顾者
• 发展性考虑

HIGHLIGHTS:

• • Young children and their caregivers are highly responsive to TF-CBT.
  • To implement TF-CBT with this population most effectively, it is important to consider children’s developmental level and implement the model accordingly.
  • The clinical strategies described above are suggested applications to enhance young children’s outcomes in the aftermath of trauma.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to especially thank Beth Cooper for her always outstanding editing and manuscript review. Also, Jan Sands’ manuscript preparation and submission is greatly appreciated. We would also like to acknowledge Judith Cohen, MD, Anthony Mannarino, PhD, and all of the TF-CBT national trainers, consultants, supervisors, and therapists for their passion and dedication to this work.

Disclosure statement

The authors declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. The first author receives honoraria for TF-CBT-related activities. The second author is a developer of TF-CBT and receives royalties and honoraria for TF-CBT-related activities.