The McNabb Center has a new playground to support the efforts of its therapeutic preschool program that helps children ages 4-6 recover from traumatic events.
Recess can be a particularly stressful time for children who have experienced trauma, Gayle Lodato, McNabb Center vice president for the Chattanooga area, said during a news conference Friday. Because the setting is less structured than a classroom, children with adverse childhood experiences are more likely to find playgrounds overwhelming.
The new playground is an extension of the therapy children undergo inside McNabb’s facility on Shallowford Road, where young children complete a 10-week intensive outpatient program that mirrors a day care or school environment, except the curriculum is emotional-based rather than academic.
“We are teaching our participants how to identify the feelings that they have,” Lodato said. “Keep in mind, ages 4 to 6, we really don’t know what we’re experiencing. We just know something feels uncomfortable. And so a lot of our participants are struggling in their traditional child care setting.”
(READ MORE: Childhood trauma changes the brain, experts say)