Our team here at Roman Music Therapy Services sends out our heartfelt thoughts to all of those affected by the tragedies in Boston this week. We have seen an out pouring of support for those affected by the tragedies of Monday. We encourage those seeking any kind of assistance to reach out and take advantage of the support and kindness of local resources.
As parents, many of us also need to reconcile how to talk with our children about these terrible events and support them in understanding while we ourselves struggle to understand.
Below you will find a list of resources that we have found that we believe may help you and your family. We will continue to add resources as we find them.
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Resources from our community partners at The Massachusetts School for Professional Psychology Freedman Center for Child and Family Development
The MSPP INTERFACE helpline is available Monday-Friday 9AM-5PM at 617-332-3666 x1411 should you, a loved one, or friend feel it appropriate to seek mental health support in the coming days and weeks following this incident.
For parents as well as providers or school staff members working with children, the following resources may be useful:
Parent Tips for Helping Preschool-Age Children after Disasters: https://www.nctsn.org/resources/pfa-parent-tips-helping-preschool-age-children-after-disasters
Talking to Children when Scary Things Happen:
https://www.nctsn.org/resources/talking-to-children-when-scary-things-happen
Additionally, regardless of how directly we were affected, all of us will need to ensure that we take good care of ourselves in order to be available whether it be for your own children, students, clients or friends and loved ones. Please find some helpful reminders about caring for ourselves in light of this tragedy courtesy of the Riverside Community Care Trauma Center:
http://riversidetraumacenter.org/documents/PracticingSelf-CareAfterTraumaticEvents.pdf
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Common Sense Media
On the Common Sense Media Page there is helpful information about explaining the news to our children. You can read more here.
http://www.commonsensemedia.org/advice-for-parents/explaining-news-our-kids
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The National Association of School Psychologists offers this site to support parents and teachers on helping children cope.
http://www.nasponline.org/resources/crisis_safety/terror_general.aspx
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The American Psychological Association offers these resources for dealing with disasters and traumatic events.
http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/disaster/index.aspx
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