What Are Adverse Childhood Experiences?

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We turn on the news and hear about war and devastation every day and wonder, what about all the children in these regions who are affected by wartime trauma? Who is helping them and how? If you have or know children, you must wonder, as I do, how these young people survive such staggering events or avoid symptoms of PTSD.

I recently interviewed clinical psychologist Shai Hen-Gal of Tel Aviv, Israel. Hen-Gal works with wartime trauma in children and has created a successful short-term intervention we should all know about: Hibuki.

Hibuki is a Hebrew term that roughly translates to Huggy, the name Hen-Gal has given to an adorable stuffed animal dog with a sad face and extra-long limbs that can hug a child as it wraps itself around the traumatized little one, offering some healing and a friend. Hen-Gal uses Huggy to help treat traumatized children who have experienced the horrors of war.

Karly McBride: Where did this idea come from?

Shai Hen-Gal: I was volunteering in refugee camps and wanted to find something that was a short intervention that would help with anxiety quickly. I was looking in toy shops in Israel and found the sad puppy doll. It had sad eyes and long arms to wrap around a child. I thought it would help children not feel so alone and help with their suffering. I developed a short protocol to go with it.

KM: How does it work with children?

SHG: I ask the child to meet the dog, Hibuki, and ask how they think the dog is feeling. Children immediately begin projecting their inner world onto the dog. The dog begins to feel what the child is feeling—sad, scared, and anxious. Then I ask the child what they can do to help the dog feel better. They decide they can sleep with it, take it to school, and take care of it so the dog doesn’t feel so sad. The child becomes the caretaker of the Huggy dog and ultimately helps themselves with self-soothing. It is a one-time intervention, and it is like a miracle. We just don’t have the time, money, and resources to treat all these children quickly. They now don’t feel so alone, and they have a friend. When they are finished with Huggy, they save the dog for future trauma and even pass it along to their siblings.

KM: Have you researched this treatment?

SHG: Yes, in our research, we found it to be very successful in our control groups that received the Huggy dog and the protocol to take care of it. It worked with anxiety and depression and felt like a miracle cure. The children were sleeping again and feeling better. (Here is a link to Hen-Gal's research.)

KM: Has the Huggy dog ever been used with adults?

SHG: Yes, we have tried it with adults in memory care who have dementia. We introduced Hibuki for children visiting their grandparents, but found that the dementia patients adopted Hibuki for themselves. We’ve also used the intervention in several countries and hospitals where there have been wars and natural disasters.

I was very touched by Hen-Gal's interview. I use a similar technique called “doll therapy” in treatment with adults who come from dysfunctional families and have a wounded child within who needs nurturing. I have them buy a huggable doll that they can rock, hold, and talk to as they work out their inner feelings and identify negative messages. I have found it to be significantly helpful because it is concrete—something to hold and take care of as clients re-parent their own wounded inner children.

What Are Adverse Childhood Experiences?

Take our Your Mental Health Today Test

Find a therapist near me

Sometimes the simplest things in life can be the most helpful.

Additional Resources by the Author

Shtarkman R., (2022, April 24): This Puppet From Israel Helps Ukrainian Kids Cope With Unspeakable Trauma. Israel News

Sadeh A.; Hen-Gal S.; Titotzky L., (2008, January 1) Young Children’s Reactions to War-Related Stress: A Survey and Assessment of an Innovative Intervention. Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Hibuki (Therapy) Intervention Research Booklet. hibuki-therapy.com/about-us/research/hibuki-intervention

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