Psychologist specializing in trauma Hélène Romano answers questions from franceinfo after the knife attack in Annecy which left six injured, including four children. She explains how to talk to young children when a tragedy of this type occurs.
The knife attack in Annecy “comes up against our convictions and our beliefs in a feeling of security”explains psychotherapist Hélène Romano, Thursday June 8 on franceinfo, after a man injured six people, including four children in a playground on the shores of Lake Annecy, in front of many witnesses, including children. “For the youngest, the priority is to reassure them and allow them to understand that this nightmare is over”she adds.
Franceinfo: How to react to this very particular situation?
Helene Romano: The first priority is to try to reassure, especially children for whom the situation makes no sense. We must allow them to understand that this nightmare is over. Lake Annecy is a place that is not in the middle of bombs. It is therefore not a place where one can psychically anticipate things. And these are toddlers who have been assaulted so it comes up against our convictions and our beliefs in a sense of security. In a country at war, it’s horrible, of course, but psychologically, we are in a state of defense. There, it’s not at all the case and that’s also why it’s very violent.
>> Annecy: a knife attack kills six people, including four young children
How to reassure? Should we explain, make people talk?
It is important not to “talk”. You have to offer to talk, which is not at all the same thing. “Getting people to talk” is very intrusive. There are children, teenagers, adults who don’t want to talk at that time. You shouldn’t leave them alone and try to make sense. Making sense, this can be, for example, explaining the relief measures that are put in place. You have to try to reintegrate people into a human community. This may seem anecdotal, but it is fundamental in these situations. There are also several levels close to the facts. There were passers-by, parents, children who were in this park at the time of this attack. Classes of high school students were not far either.
In psychology, this is called the “level of involvement”. Those directly involved are to be taken care of as a priority. These are obviously the family, the teachers, those who are present, and also the relatives who were not present.
Hélène Romano, psychotherapistat franceinfo
The second priority of those directly involved are those who saw and heard the cries and screams. Then, those indirectly involved are everyone else: those who were nearby, those who live in Annecy, those who are relatives small children, but also those who have already been attacked. I am thinking of the victims of attacks, the victims of domestic assault and those who have already been victims of traumatic events. For these people, this event risks reactivating things. We need to be able to offer them help, although there is a lack of professionals trained at this level.
To the children who have heard of the facts and to those who have listened to the radio, seen the television and social networks, what can we tell them?
It is necessary to respond as best as possible by adapting to what the child has understood. We tend to think that the children are too small to understand so we don’t talk, while they can perceive the despair and concern of the parents. You have to explain to them that something serious happened, that there is a bad guy who harmed children, but that he was arrested and the emergency services intervened. We can put words because the children perceive very well that the adults are upset. It’s complicated, because you mustn’t be intrusive. But what is important is to try to avoid either trivializing or forcing people to speak. It’s a balance to find.