Refugee children are vulnerable and traumatized from the experience of being transplanted to the U.S. Providing expressive arts therapy in a group setting will help them express their feelings and emotions to provide healing. Using a culturally acceptable behavioral health approach, with the principles of trauma intervention on safety, calming, self-efficacy, connectedness, and hope, CHATIC addresses the mental health needs of these youth and helps them to attain educational success with limited English proficiency.
This program provides six weeks of expressive arts trauma healing therapy to groups in three age categories: 6-11, 12-14, and 15-19. Training is also provided to parents, equipping them with the required skills to improve behavior management and to identify and articulate mental health triggers. A licensed therapist works on healing trauma through. CHATIC’s aim is to treat mental health and prevent high-risk behaviors and school dropout among refugee children.
