Safe Spaces for Traumatized Children

As governments order lockdowns of cities and countries due to coronavirus concerns, many people are at risk for experiencing mental health issues such as loneliness and anxiety. To combat this, people are turning to telemedicine for counseling consultations and to keep in touch with loved ones, as well as activities such as exercise to improve moods.

A practice in Johannesburg is making the courtroom and trial process less scary for sexually abused children by letting them play the role of court officials alongside therapy dogs in a pretend court. The Teddy Bear Foundation, responsible for this role play activity, wants children to be less scared but also prepared for their day in court when it comes.

Peer mentoring and other mindfulness practices are being implemented into industries where vicarious trauma or secondary traumatic stress can occur. These self-care practices are intended to help promote resiliency in positions where the employer is oftentimes taking on the stressors of their clients, which in turn impacts their own mental health and overall wellbeing.

FGM, or Female Genital Mutilation, is still being conducted in Kenya albeit now in secrecy. A group of high school girls in Kisumu, Kenya developed an app that is part of the effort to end the practice. The app includes educational resources as well as connections to local police stations and offers ways of tracking local advocates' outreach. While the app has garnered a lot of international attention as well as some support from those who work on the ground in the issue, it still faces many challenges before it can become truly effective.

In Ashland, Oregon, the police department has launched a program that better serves sexual assault survivors by putting them at the center. The program, called You Have Options, considers the challenges that survivors face and works to help them through the reporting process, including letting them report anonymously. In its first year, You Have Options saw a 106% increase in sexual assault reporting and departments across the United States are now seeking to implement it.

A decrease in arrests in Chicago public schools is a result of the district moving away from a zero-tolerance policy for discipline and acting in favor of more instructional intervention. This approach has allowed for kids experiencing trauma and lashing out to receive better care and direction than is provided by punitive action.

A new training program gets police officers to delve into the complexities of teenage brain development, helping law enforcement to recognize mental health issues, respond to them and, if they can, refer families to other resources in the community. The method focuses less on swift and immediate interventions and more on building relationships and trust that decreases overall volatility, while increasing the chance of keeping youth out of trouble and away from crime in the long term.

In Democratic Republic of Congo, rape has become a routine weapon of war - but the country has little or no treatment for those with mental health issues resulting from sexual assault. A method of group therapy designed for victims of trauma is helping survivors of sexual violence, enabling women to overcome the fear and shame to rebuild some semblance of normalcy, and a path forward.

Clergy abuse in the Catholic church has been rampant and was often swept under the rug. Until Barrett Doyle and others started 'Bishop Accountability' to keep a record of clergy abuse, and a support group and blog have also been created as a path for healing and sharing stories that will also hopefully help prompt change in the church.

On-call mental health specialists and peer support are helping first responders in Houston, Texas, work through the trauma that comes with their jobs and prevent suicides.