Children that have been traumatized can often exhibit extremely challenging behaviors, and are themselves often unaware of the triggers that set these undesirable behaviors off.  Chances are if the child who is causing the ruckus doesn’t have a clue as to why, the parents as well are going to be fairly in the dark when it comes to the specifics as to why.

A behavior log can help parents keep track of what behaviors occur and more importantly, when they occur.  As parents continue to keep track of their children’s days, and the behaviors that go along with them, they will begin to see certain patterns emerge.  Perhaps they will notice that their child melts down when he or she is in loud environments, or tends to become unruly around large groups of people. 

It is not the wisest of ideas to let on to your child that you are keeping a log of their behavior in order to get to the bottom of what his or her triggers are, as most traumatized children will then make it their personal mission to throw the results of the ‘test’ as a way to stay in control of the situation. 

Once you can begin to hone in on some of the aspects of your child’s triggers, you can do your best to avoid them, while figuring out how to help your child heal and move past them, or at the very least lessen their reactions to them.
 

Image credit for  Hulagway