Therapists reveal how wildfire survivors can help their children cope with trauma

Therapists accidental survivors of the California wildfires tin assistance their children heal from the trauma of leaving everything they cognize down by continuing connected with their regular routines, providing an empathetic receptor and reinforcing their safety. 

While occurrence crews proceed to combat the wildfires consuming Los Angeles County, officials arsenic of Saturday said astatine slightest 30 radical stay missing portion 2 further deaths brought the toll to 27.

"Many children are facing the devastation of the fires successful California. As parents and caregivers, it's important to enactment children during this crisis, giving them abstraction to stock what they saw, heard, and felt," Dr. Cindy Davis, objective manager of Positive Development successful Pasadena, Calif., told Fox News Digital. "Encourage them to stock their experiences and beryllium unfastened to immoderate signifier of communication. Some whitethorn repetition the aforesaid story, portion others whitethorn similar not to speech much. Let them take erstwhile and however to share. Consider your child's acquisition with the catastrophe — did they evacuate, spot homes burning, oregon witnesser fear? Use these clues to usher your conversations. For younger children specifically, wage attraction to the themes successful their play, arsenic it often reflects their concerns and helps them process their feelings." 

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Dr. Gail Saltz, subordinate prof of psychiatry astatine the New York Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell School of Medicine, explained that the fires person caused "tremendous and ongoing loss" for some adults and children. 

Burned retired classical cars beryllium similar ghosts aft being destroyed by wildfire, Altadena, California, Friday, January 10, 2025. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)

"The astir important happening for children present is to marque them consciousness that they and you, their parents, are safe," she advised. "Parents should often explain, ’We are harmless because’ oregon ‘here is our information plan’ oregon ‘we request to commencement our information program and erstwhile we get there, I tin reply each your questions.’ Expect and reply repeated concerns from children astir information of themselves and their loved ones. Try to bash bully things unneurotic demonstrating that it feels harmless for each of you, similar playing a game. Remind them nary substance what you person lost, the astir important happening is that you are unneurotic and safe. Home is, and volition be, wherever you are." 

One mode to assistance children consciousness harmless amid the chaos of relocating is letting them explicit their preferences astir what they tin control, specified arsenic a caller room, schoolhouse oregon activity, therapist Samantha Silverman, LCSW, told Fox News Digital. 

"Plan activities unneurotic to research the caller metropolis and marque it consciousness similar home," Silverman suggested. "Maintain accordant regular routines to supply a consciousness of stableness and security. Incorporate comforting traditions oregon activities that punctual them of home, specified arsenic household meals oregon bedtime rituals. Help your kid acclimate by exploring the caller metropolis together, visiting section parks, schools oregon libraries. Encourage information successful assemblage oregon extracurricular activities to assistance them marque caller friends and physique a consciousness of belonging."

La Jolla, Calif., kid psychiatrist Josh Feder, M.D., who explained children "need other support" during this time, advised parents to marque definite their children are successful a harmless spot with cleanable aerial and cautioned against watching quality of the fires astir children.

"Use alerts connected your telephone to get important updates," helium said. "It's important to archer the information but not marque it excessively scary. For example, ‘Our location burned down but we are harmless now.' Our occupation is to support kids and marque them consciousness arsenic harmless arsenic we can!" 

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A chopper drops h2o connected the Palisades Fire successful Mandeville Canyon, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, successful Los Angeles.  (Ethan Swope/AP)

Saltz explained that portion the wildfires marque for a stressful concern for some adults and children, they tin marque it done the hardship.  

"Human capableness for resilience is specified that the bulk of these radical volition yet marque their mode done these losses to recoup their lives, but the much coping tools and enactment they tin receive, the much apt that is and the little achy it volition be," she said. 

Fox News Digital's Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.