Introduction

How the Workshop Came to Be

The Strengths of Shelter Workers

What is Abuse?

Why Abuse is Happening in Inuit Society

Understanding the Cycle of Violence

Inuit People and Healing

How My Shelter Helps Healing

Counselling 101

The Purpose of Counselling

Building a Counselling Relationship

Confidentiality

Good Listening

Gathering Information

Setting Goals

Taking Action

Suicide Prevention

Children and Abuse

The Impact of Abuse on Children

What Children Need

Helping Children Express Their Feelings

Safety Plans for Children

Working in a Shelter

Creating Physical Safety

Emotional Self-Esteem

Building Self-Esteem

Caring for Yourself

Dealing with Difficult Residents

Dealing with Conflict at the Shelter

Shelter Procedures and Records

Building Links with the Community

References

Helping Children Express Their Feelings

Children who do not feel safe in their homes can learn to push away their emotions. Children can be helped to begin healing by learning to connect with what their bodies are telling them (muscles tightening in anger, shaking in fear, the surge of happiness). This helps them to begin to understand that feelings are a normal reaction to what has a happened to them and to learn about how feelings are connected to how they act. And when they are listened to and respected by shelter staff they feel supported.

Exercise: Helping Children Express Their Feelings

Step 1:

Invite the children to name as many feelings as possible. The facilitator may choose to:

• write the feelings on a flip chart or poster board.
• draw faces the show the feelings on the chart.

Step 2:

Have a discussion about the feelings that have been identified. Ask questions such as:

• How do we know when we have _____ feeling?
• How does our body feel when we have certain feelings?
• How can we know what other people are feeling?
• What do you think might have been happening before someone had a certain feeling?
• Are any feelings not okay?
• What do we do when we feel ________ (angry, mad, sad?)
• Are there times when being ________ (angry, mad, sad) is okay?

Explore feelings in a fun way with two more steps:

Step 3: (Feeling Mime Game)

Lead the children through a “feeling mime game”: one child is invited to stand with her/his back to the chart. They turn around three times with their eyes closed and point to a feeling on the chart. The others in the group mime the feeling and the child tries to guess what feeling is being acted out. Give each child a chance to choose the feeling.

Step 4: (Feeling Walks)

The children are invited to walk as if they are experiencing a variety of feelings. This activity allows children to take the leadership role in the group, with each child in turn choosing a feeling that the group as a whole will express.