Research completed in 2023 found that 1 in 5 children aged 8-16 had a probable mental health condition.
It is thought that approximately 1 in 18 preschool children may have a mental health condition.
The NSCPCC suggest that 7 children in every classroom experience a form of abuse before 18.
Those stats are shocking and should break our heart – I am pretty sure that they break God’s heart. They tell us that trauma is in our communities, it’s in our schools, it’s on our doorstep and it’s in our churches – and as the church – we need to wake up to that.
But there’s good news too – in research conducted by the charity Young Minds, it was found that the more adults a young person has in their life that they trust and feel safe talking to, the greater the reduction in their likelihood of developing a mental health condition.
Our kids need safe spaces and safe adults who bring safe approaches that enable them to heal, to be encouraged and to flourish. Understanding trauma and what a trauma sensitive approach looks like is vital if we are going to be church that follows the example of Jesus and meets broken people where they are at and creates safe space where people can rest, can heal and can flourish as they encounter the loving, healing presence of Jesus – the lifter of our heads.
In this session we will use the Wonderful Me! Trauma Tree model to help us begin to explore what trauma is and consider what it might look like to create safe spaces and bring safe, trauma sensitive approaches.