18 Social Connections
Being connected and having positive supports is really important however it is often a really difficult thing for a young person who has experienced trauma to do. A young person’ s ability to establish trusting and safe relationships is really difficult when they have experiences of trauma, particularly trauma that involved other people such as sexual or physical abuse. Being patient and making efforts to build rapport and trust is crucial to the success of any intervention with a young person.
Encourage them to think broadly, not only about supports from friends or family but also people that can support them with practical things, who can help them get things done or someone who will just spend time with them without feeling like they have to talk.
Sometimes young people will find re-connecting with social networks or re-discovering enjoyable activities difficult, and often there will be a period where engaging with these things will still feel like‘ pulling teeth’. However, it is important to encourage young people to persist – fake it until they make it.
18