The use of Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy with Children who have Experienced Trauma to Improve Social Functioning

Children who have experienced trauma are often affected socially, relationally and personally. Some children will require therapeutic interventions to improve these symptoms and functioning, while others will recover with no therapeutic intervention at all. One evidence based intervention to treat trauma in children is Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TFCBT), however current research on TFCBT primarily focuses on how it improves PTSD symptoms, not necessarily its effect on improving a child’s social or relational functioning. Therefore, the present study focuses on the clinician’s perspective of how the use of TFCBT improves social functioning. The findings indicate that the use of TFCBT helps to reduce trauma symptoms that affect a child socially, relationally and personally. However, the findings also indicated reasons why participants chose not to use TFCBT even when the child was experiencing trauma symptoms. Further research is needed to better address the benefits of a broader use of TFCBT.