Haruv institute - Leading Principles in Trauma-Informed Child Representation

ears. A lawyer who represents a child for a long time has the great advantage of being present at significant junctures in the child’s life and can remind the child of their successes, the processes they underwent, and the challenges they overcame, thus connecting disconnected parts of the child’s life. – Idea for practice: You may say, for example, “I really appreciate your decision to take part in the hearing; it sounds like this is very important to you.” / “I really appreciate your willingness to come to the hearing and share with all of us what you feel and what is important to you.” 3. Seeing the child’s needs and reacting appropriately • Respecting boundaries: Respecting the child’s boundaries is extremely important from two different aspects: traumatic and cultural. First, in relation to the trauma prism, dialogue with children who underwent traumatic life experiences may be characterized by fragmented reports, the use of few words, and spontaneous demonstrations, as well as regressive and incoherent reports. The child may completely avoid sharing information about the traumatic experiences; they may remain silent and refuse to talk about them. This is especially true at the beginning of the relationship when trust with the new professional has yet to be built. It is important to respect the child’s pace and not push them to share information they are not yet ready to share. Second, considering the prism of culture, it is important to pay attention to the characteristics of the society in which the child is growing up. Different cultures, for example, promote different values in relation to emotional expression and cooperation. Closed societies, where the rules and norms are strict, may hinder the child and their family from discoursing and cooperating with entities outside their community. Children from certain societies are not used to being asked for their opinions and they will accept

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