Trauma
What is Trauma
For so long many people have associated post traumatic stress disorder (complex trauma) with only MAJOR events, and while this seems true, it’s not true for every case. As a psychologist (a professional influence of mine) has put it, “trauma is any stress that can disrupt and affect physiology”. In other words anything that occurs…
Read MoreRegulation – Dissociation Part 2
While some kids live hyper-aroused and are incorrectly diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder other children respond to early trauma by dissociating. This is particularly true if they experienced trauma as infants or toddlers. The three choices any human has to stress is flight, fight or freeze. Infants are incapable of running or fighting so…
Read MoreRegulation rather than consequences
Parenting traumatized children requires regulation rather than consequences. Regulation is what these children missed as babies and toddlers. Healthy children had moments where loving parents picked them up and calmed them. The parent held them when they were angry or distressed. They calmly helped them handle a frustration. Neglected and abused children missed these experiences…
Read MoreHelping Traumatized Children Learn – Part 2
In the second chapter of “Helping Traumatized Children Learn”, the author discusses resiliency and protective factors. Three Protective factors Child-development psychologists Masten and Coatsworth found 3 common factors for why some children develop competence even under adverse conditions, such as exposure to domestic violence, abuse, homelessness and community violence. These three factors common to competent…
Read MoreLearning and Trauma
Helping Traumatized Children Learn I just finished reading a chapter of the book titled “Helping Traumatized Children Learn”. This report was a collaboration with Harvard Law School and The Task Force on Children Affected by Domestic Violence. The basics of the book are: • Chapter 1 – The impact of trauma on learning • Chapter…
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