Arianne Struik

Home
Australia
Brisbane, QLD
Arianne Struik

Directions Website

My name is Arianne Struik and I’m a clinical psychologist/ family therapist and EMDR consultant.

The Institute for Chronically Traumatized Children (ICTC), founded by Arianne Struik, provides training, supervision, consultation, and research on the treatment of chronically traumatized children and their families. After working in child and adolescent psychiatry for 20 years in the Netherlands, where I developed the award-winning Sleeping Dogs method to motivate children that are unable or unwilling to engage in trauma treatment, I became director of the Institute for Chronically Traumatized Children (ICTC). We started in Perth, WA, and moved to Agnes Water QLD Australia in 2019.

14/10/2026

These figures come from the parental PTSD symptom screening measure in the study. They’re especially striking given the complexity of the participating families — although, again, this was an observational study and not a randomized controlled trial.

12/10/2026

Trauma treatment is more than talking.

Children do not need perfect words before healing can begin.

09/10/2026

5 barriers that can block trauma treatment👇️⁠
⁠
The question is not “Why won’t this child engage?” but “What is standing in the way?”⁠
⁠

07/10/2026

When a Child Says “I’m Fine”⁠
⁠
A child saying “I’m fine” does not always mean the trauma is resolved.⁠
⁠
For children with chronic trauma, minimising, forgetting or avoiding can be ways of staying safe. Before asking for the full story, we need to understand what makes remembering feel dangerous.⁠
⁠
Trauma treatment starts by removing those barriers — not by pushing through them.⁠
⁠
🐾 This is at the heart of the Sleeping Dogs Method.⁠
⁠
Want to learn more about the method? Watch our online pre-recorded webinar today and master the Sleeping Dogs Method: https://www.ariannestruik.com/calendar-2/treating-chronically-traumatized-children-with-the-sleeping-dogs-method/⁠
⁠

01/10/2026

Quote of the day 👇️

01/10/2026

Avoidance is one of the ways trauma can show up.⁠
⁠
A child may:⁠
⁠
“I don’t remember.”⁠
“I don’t want to talk about it.”⁠
“It wasn’t that bad.”⁠
“I don’t need therapy.”⁠
⁠
Avoidance can be part of a traumatic stress response.⁠
⁠
So avoiding trauma treatment doesn’t necessarily mean a child doesn’t need it.⁠
⁠
And it doesn’t mean they are “unmotivated.”⁠
⁠
Sometimes we need to understand what makes talking about the trauma⁠
feel unsafe before trauma processing can begin.⁠
⁠
🐾 That is exactly the space the Sleeping Dogs Method works in:⁠
⁠
Not forcing children to talk.⁠
⁠
But helping them become willing and able to engage in trauma treatment.⁠
⁠
Learn about the method in your own pace with our recorded workshop via link in bio or right here:⁠
https://www.ariannestruik.com/calendar-2/treating-chronically-traumatized-children-with-the-sleeping-dogs-method/⁠
⁠
⁠
TraumaInformedCare

29/09/2026

Avoidance is one of the ways trauma can show up.⁠
⁠
A child may:⁠
⁠
“I don’t remember.”⁠
“I don’t want to talk about it.”⁠
“It wasn’t that bad.”⁠
“I don’t need therapy.”⁠
⁠
Avoidance can be part of a traumatic stress response.⁠
⁠
So avoiding trauma treatment doesn’t necessarily mean a child doesn’t need it.⁠
⁠
And it doesn’t mean they are “unmotivated.”⁠
⁠
Sometimes we need to understand what makes talking about the trauma⁠
feel unsafe before trauma processing can begin.⁠
⁠
🐾 That is exactly the space the Sleeping Dogs Method works in:⁠
⁠
Not forcing children to talk.⁠
⁠
But helping them become willing and able to engage in trauma treatment.⁠
⁠
Learn about the method in your own pace with our recorded workshop:⁠
https://www.ariannestruik.com/calendar-2/treating-chronically-traumatized-children-with-the-sleeping-dogs-method/⁠
⁠
⁠

28/09/2026

I’m honoured to share that I was invited to write a chapter on the Sleeping Dogs Method for the upcoming book: https://www.francoangeli.it/Libro?id=30668

📘 Child Maltreatment and Sexual Abuse: Best Practices for Prevention and Treatment
by Monica Romei and Annarita Manzo from the Eos ETS in Napels.

The chapter will focus on working with chronically traumatised children and helping them safely engage in trauma treatment. It will also be translated into Italian 🇮🇹

The book will be published any moment!

One of the things I love most about this work is international collaboration: professionals from different countries coming together with one shared goal — helping children heal from trauma. 💙

A huge thank you to Monica Romei and Annarita Manzo for the invitation and for their important work in the field.

24/09/2026

Between 21% and 41% of mental health conditions in Australia are linked to child maltreatment.

Let that sink in.

According to recent research, child abuse and neglect contribute significantly to:
▪️ Depression
▪️ Anxiety
▪️ PTSD
▪️ Substance abuse
▪️ Self-harm and suicidality
▪️ Severe mental health difficulties later in life

And yet…

Why aren’t we providing trauma treatment in 21–41% of mental health cases?

Too often, we treat the symptoms while missing the trauma underneath:
💊 Medication without trauma processing
⚠️ Behaviour management without understanding survival responses
🧩 Diagnoses without asking what happened to the child

If child maltreatment is one of the biggest drivers of mental illness, trauma treatment should not be a niche service.

It should be central to mental healthcare.

Early trauma treatment changes life trajectories — not only for children, but across generations. 💙

📚 Source:
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2818229

23/09/2026

What makes the Sleeping Dogs Method so powerful?
🐾 Parents.

When trauma treatment stalls, it’s often because the child has barriers and isn’t ready. But we don’t give up.

Instead, we involve the people who matter most:
👩‍👦 Their parents, even if they’re struggling, even if they’ve been part of the problem.

Why? Because children are wired for connection. If we work with the parent, we can help the child and family heal together and build on a longterm solution.

🔍 Research and clinical experience show the importance of involving parents, just like this Swedish study on engaging children in support groups:
📄 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13691457.2024.2405846

Address

PO Box 407, Agnes Water
Brisbane, QLD
4677

Website

https://ariannestruik.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Arianne Struik posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.