Trauma during development or, childhood trauma, changes the architecture of the physical brain and the ability to learn and social behavior. It impacts 2 out of 3 children at some level, but I didn’t even know what it was…
Childhood Trauma can be defined as a response of overwhelming fear or helplessness to a painful or shocking event, or to chronic, toxic stress, including ACEs (adverse childhood experiences).
ACEs include physical, emotional and sexual abuse, physical and emotional neglect, a missing parent (due to separation, divorce, incarceration, death), witnessing household substance abuse, violence, or mental illness and more.
Trauma-impacted children are not sick or “bad”, they are injured. Developmental trauma is an injury. It happens TO the child. In turn, when they become adults, many re-enact their unaddressed trauma, injuring the next generation in a merciless cycle of pain and fear. When multiple injuries fester unaddressed, they set off a chain of events leading ultimately to early death, according to the CDC.