Trauma Informed Practice with children and young people
Prevention and recovery
1 in 3 diagnosed mental health conditions in adulthood are known to directly relate to adverse childhood experiences
Kessler, R. C., McLaughlin, K. A., Green, J. G., Gruber, M. J., Sampson, N. A., Zaslavsky, A. M., Aguilar-Gaxiola, S., Alhamzawi, A. O., Alonso, J., Angermeyer, M., Benjet, C., Bromet, E., Chatterji, S., de Girolamo, G., Demyttenaere, K., Fayyad, J., Florescu, S., Gal, G., Gureje, O., Haro, J. M., … Williams, D. R. (2010). Childhood adversities and adult psychopathology in the WHO World Mental Health Surveys. The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science, 197(5), 378–385.
Reference
'Trauma can be defined as any experience or repeated experience where the child feels terrified, powerless and overwhelmed and that challenges their capacity to cope. It leaves an imprint on the person’s nervous system, emotions, body, behaviours, learning and relationships. What is traumatic for one individual may not be traumatic for another, but the degree of impact of the trauma is usually connected to the child’s ability to find comfort and reassurance from a safe and known adult in the aftermath of the experience.
We recognise that many children are unable to find that emotional connection and safe place with their key adult for numerous reasons, including the adult being unavailable or threats or terror of what may happen. The trauma recovery-focused culture is one where we recognise that we can’t make assumptions and we will never shame or blame anyone, because we don’t know what was going on for them.'
(p21 Simple Guide to Complex Trauma and Dissociation - de Thierry 2020)