Director of the Division for Child Behavioral Health, Jeffrey Guenzel offers these tips on helping your child cope with the stress of the hurricane.

Children of all ages need to feel safe and that they can turn to their caregivers to provide safety. Caregivers should let their children express their concerns and fears.

· Be as calm as possible around your children. That sense of calmness can really help. You can share your own fears and concerns in basic terms, but try to avoid “venting” your own emotions with your children. Try to find another supportive adult to “vent” your emotions.
· Following a disaster, children need reassurance that they are safe. Provide that reassurance, however it needs to be honest, not a false sense of reassurance. Avoid telling them that a disaster will never happen again, rather reassure them that adults are working hard to protect them and focus on the positive things your family did to get through the disaster.
· Be honest and open, but keep it simple. Don’t get into needless detail about the disaster. Too much information can be confusing and can raise anxiety. At the same time, children can often sense when information is being hidden from them. So, be honest, but keep it simple.
· Maintain your daily routines as best as possible. Once you get past the first few days of managing the disaster, work towards getting back to your children’s normal activities as best as possible.
· Be aware that your children get information from other sources such as friends and the media. Encourage them to talk with you about what they hear. This not only gives them a chance to talk about it, it also gives you a chance to dispel bad information that they may believe is true.
· Manage the amount of information about the hurricane your child is exposed to in the media. Viewing images or hearing descriptions of the hurricane and its aftermath may only heighten a child’s anxiety. For example, a young child may not understand that media footage of collapsing buildings or distraught victims are replays of an event, and may think that a new hurricane has arrived.
· Respect and take the time to listen to your child’s feelings, thoughts and reactions, even if they are different from your own.
· Keep in mind that feelings and thoughts of other events your child may have experienced, such as 9/11, may come back up during this time. Also, the stress of going to school and being away from home can create anxiety for some children. Again, listening and talking with them about this can be very helpful, while also supporting them getting back into their normal routine of going to school and learning.

Finally, caregivers should seek additional help if needed. If a child seems “stuck” and keeps focusing on the hurricane, can not seem to get past the anxiety or sadness, is having trouble sleeping, or is having any continued problems with their daily lives, seek professional help. Talk with your pediatrician or seek out a mental health professional directly. Obtaining professional help as soon as you recognize that your child is having trouble dealing with the effects of a disaster can aid in their recovery. To obtain services for a child through the New Jersey Division of Child Behavioral Health Services, please contact 1-877- 652-7624.