Helping and Healing Traumatized Children – Talk by Frank Whitelock on 20 March 2019

Once again we had the pleasure of hearing a compassionate, fascinating talk by Mr. Frank Whitelock, “Helping and Healing Traumatized Children”. Mr. Whitelock spent several years working with teenagers in England who had violated the law. Their crimes ranged from burglary to manslaughter, but instead of sentencing them to an ordinary prison, they were sentenced to a ‘secure environment’ , which meant a small group, approximately 12 youths, overseen by trained social workers and educators. These youths, between the ages of 14 to 18, were thus given a second chance in life, having come primarily from broken homes. At first, he worked with only boys, but eventually girls were also admitted to the group. His talk was not at all a dry, statistical presentation of juvenile crimes, but a lively , personal account of his work, illustrated by interesting case studies. One example was his description of taking a group on a camping trip, a self-managing tour, as he called it.      Judging from the questions and comments after the talk, we were all very impressed and interested in his work. Perhaps we can invite Mr. Whitelock to speak to us again in the near future.  

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