This is a recording of the webinar, “Talking with Children About War and Other Humanitarian Crises,” that took place on November 20, 2023.

The Pacific Southwest MHTTC offered this session during a season in which many families are gathering and discussing challenging, charged issues with current and ongoing wars coupled with a wide range of humanitarian and other major crises in the U.S. and abroad. In this special session, our center's School Mental Health Field Director, Leora Wolf-Prusan moderated a presentation and workshop with Dr. David Schonfeld, Director of the National Center for School Crisis & Bereavement. After Dr. Schonfeld's presentation, participants debriefed and processed in the question-and-answer segment of the program, and a discussion emerged, centered on how children understand – and misunderstand – crises and how best to explain it to them in order to promote their understanding and adjustment.

Viewers of this recording can benefit from the following learning objectives:   

• Approaches for how to talk with children about wars and other humanitarian crises
• Some of the causes of ineffective communication, whether due to the source (e.g., media) or recipient (i.e., the child) of the information
• Strategies to address anger and blame during group discussions with children in the aftermath of a humanitarian crisis
• This session was designed for mental health and school mental health professionals, including counselors, psychologists, social workers, marriage and family therapists, and mental health program administrators