Healing Children's Wounds of Trauma

Wherever adults suffer, children suffer doubly. This book equips churches and concerned adults to help children recover after traumatic events like war or abuse. It is the leader s guide for the Healing Hearts ClubTM program, an interactive, story-centered, field-tested model of Bible-based trauma healing that provides vital mental health information for children in a biblical framework.

Using this book, lay leaders work with children aged 9 13 in small groups. Each child receives the companion volume, the HEALING HEARTS CLUB STORY & ACTIVITY BOOK (ISBN 9781937628901). This facilitator s book includes the stories, along with activities, games, memory verses, and clear, comprehensive, and practical guidelines on how to run an effective trauma healing program for children whether as a week-long camp or in weekly classes. Appendixes provide guidance for working with younger children or with teenagers.

Each of the ten lessons includes a Bible story and a composite real-life story about the experiences of Sami and Rose so children can see the effects of trauma, learn how to work through their emotional and spiritual pain, and experience God s love for them. The book has been field tested with leaders and children from Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, and independent churches and orphanages.

This book is part of the product line from the Trauma Healing Institute at American Bible Society. It uses the same approach as the adult book, Healing the Wounds of Trauma. The Institute provides ongoing support for this program, including an online resource packet with supporting material.