Transition Management Strategies

Lack of predictability can be scary for people with trauma. It can make transitions of any kind a challenge, whether you are transitioning from playing in the park to going home for dinner or transitioning from summertime back to school.

Fortunately, there are ways to help our kids better manage those transitions. Everything starts with how we as parents pay attention to our kids and react from that observation. If we do the work to understand our kids and make needed changes to our routine, we can manage transitions much easier. We can do this by using step-down activities, teaching them the skills they will need in specific transitions, and recognizing how our actions are a contributing factor positively or negatively. 

We are on the path of managing transitions with our kids when we are able to pay attention to them and make changes. These changes can look a number of different ways:

• Stepping down from a really fun activity like playing in the park, to a slightly less fun activity like eating a snack before we make the big transition of going home.
• Teaching our kids how to walk safely through the parking lot to the grocery store.
• Recognizing how our triggers play a part in how we structure our interactions.

This is not to say that our kids won’t have any more meltdowns (if you’ve managed this, we would love to talk to you about becoming a coach with us!). But it does mean that you and your kids will be better equipped to transition between activities, seasons, or any major life event. 

This all sounds great on paper, but how does it work in real life? In our podcast on managing transitions, we talk through real-life examples and strategies to help kids with trauma. Click on the image below to listen to Transition Management Strategies.