One out of 7 children in the United States experiences abuse or neglect (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC). With a total lifetime economic burden of nearly 6 billion dollars, we can no longer afford to overlook this issue. How can we reverse the adverse effects of trauma in our children? Read on to find out the answer.
Knowledgeable educators and care providers are trained to recognize signals of distress sent out by traumatized children, but oftentimes are unsure how to proceed. Just like a sinking ship’s SOS signal, these children need a caring grownup to restore peace and harmony into their chaotic life.
Once you learn to recognize the signs of trauma in a child and understand the body’s stress response, you will be better poised to help a distressed child and reverse trauma’s negative effects.
After 15 years of studying the human brain and searching through thousands of research studies, I can confidently tell you that reversing the effects of trauma and restoring normal brain function is possible.
You CAN mold the brain of a young child to become a successful adult. You CAN override stress-activated neural networks. You CAN rewrite the story of their lives by giving them the proper tools and support today for a brighter tomorrow.
Want to learn more about boosting early child brain development? Check out these 5 brain secrets!
I am a neuroscientist mom on a mission to help children reach their fullest developmental potential. My wish is to provide you with a reliable information based on the latest scientific research.
In this article, you will find the necessary tools to empower and support a child with trauma. You will discover how to reverse the adverse effects of trauma in our children, recognize trauma, help children regulate their body’s physiological response and restore calm in their chaotic world.
- Recognizing Trauma in Young Children
Young children have a unique biological advantage. Their growing brain has the unlimited potential to adapt to its environment, molding to fit the child’s needs within the community.
Between the ages of 0-6, the child’s brain is most dynamic. Neuronal networks containing the brain’s functional units grow and change rapidly, helping the child survive and thrive. For these reason, the key to reversing the devastating effects of trauma is early identification.
When a traumatic, life-threatening experience overwhelms the child’s capacity to cope, a harmful cascade of physiological events takes place. By the time caregivers detect a behavioral change, such as increased aggressiveness, emotional outbursts, anti-social behavior, it is that much harder to reverse. The body’s physiological stress response to an adverse event like abuse, neglect, violence, causes the brain to become hyperalert to danger, activating with the amygdala, the brain’s emotional center.
In this hyperalert state, the brain’s ultimate goal is to find safety, so resources are shunned away from the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus learning centers
With continuous chronic traumatic stress, the child’s brain remains in an immature state and does not develop to its fullest potential. Since higher order thinking brain centers are build upon lower ones, the most complex structures in the child’s brain never reach maturity.
It might surprise you to learn that trauma can take on many forms, including physical and emotional abuse and neglect, natural disasters and even divorce! Check out the National Child Traumatic Stress Network for a comprehensive list.
TOOLS: Observation & Knowledge
By simply observing a child’s behavior and interaction with peers, you can detect signs of distress. Does the child show fight, flight or freeze behaviors? These behaviors will be a telling sign that something is wrong. When the child’s body is in a hyperalert state, the autonomic nervous system triggers behaviors to cause the child to display aggression toward others (fight), run away or hide (flight) or show indifference (freeze). Do they feel safe or show signs of emotional dysregulation and fearfulness? Always remember to look at the child as a whole, keeping in mind their daycare program, home environment and community.
2. Regulating Children’s Physiology
Our biological state oftentimes dictates our thoughts, actions and behaviors. We will look for food when we are hungry and search for a cozy place to sleep when we are tired. When we stop to listen to our body’s internal signals, we can remain balanced and in control. The same concept applies to children, the only difference is that they need our help hearing their body’s internal dialogue and understanding how to restore the body to its harmonious state.
When a child experiences trauma, the body enters into “survival mode.” The stress response overwhelms their brain as the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis releases stress hormones in a biological roller coaster of toxic stress. The body is now in a state of high alert. The center of human emotions, the amygdala, is triggered and the child can’t think clearly, becoming ruled by their emotions.
Resources in the child’s body have shifted into survival mode, so all other energetically expensive developmental processes, like brain growth and learning, will be stopped until the situation is resolved and the body returns to its baseline state.
TOOLS: Physical Movement & Breath
The mind-body connection is a powerful tool to achieve self-mastery and reverse the adverse effects of trauma in our children. Guide children to tune into their body, interpret its signals and find self-soothing strategies. For instance, stomach butterflies mean that we are nervous and deep breathing will help us find calm. Help children change their internal environment through high intensity exercises. By performing heart pumping, blood flowing movements (even for a brief period), a child’s mood will instantaneously improve and their brain will be primed for focused learning. Guide children to practice life-long skills such as mindfulness by focusing on their breathing. Staying in the present moment, the brain’s emotional center can relax, as empathy and cognition increase. Give children stress reductions strategies using calming activities like water or sand play and coloring.
3. Restoring Safety and Connection
You CAN reverse some of the adverse effects of trauma and improve outcomes for children. You can intervene at any point in a child’s life, regardless of age or situation. By offering healthy coping strategies to deal with a traumatic life event, you can positively affect long-term change in an affected child and set them up for a bright and successful future.
Here are the 4 key components to combating trauma in children:
- Building Resilience – Buffer children against everyday stressors. Help children develop important skills to manage life’s ups and downs. Promote character growth focused on grit, emotional regulation, compassion and a strong work ethic by coaching a child through difficult academic and physical challenges.
- Strength Development – Cultivate a child’s natural talents. Once success is achieved, the associated confidence boost and motivation for achieving greater success will become ingrained.
- Nurturing Environment – Provide a safe and predictable environment. Children with a history of trauma crave stability and control over their chaotic world. Empower children by setting a predictable daily schedule.
- Protective Relationships – A warm and loving relationship with a trauma-affected child is the greatest gift to counteract the toxic effects of stress. Even just one caring adult is all that is needed to jump start social-emotional development and set the child up for success.
TOOLS: Supporting the Healing Process
Provide children with coping mechanisms to regulate emotions. Seek ways to empower children to work through their trauma using dramatic play, sensory art and music. Create the safe environment the child needs to erase the toxic effects of trauma-induced stress from their lives, while establishing strong relationships built on trust and mutual respect.
THE TAKE HOME MESSAGE:
Our take home message is one of hope and inspiration. No matter how severe the trauma is in a child’s life, there is much that can be done to reverse the adverse effects of trauma in our children and prevent its negative impact.
By learning to recognize trauma in children and by providing the proper tools to regulate their physiological state, we can restore harmony and peace into their lives.
Remember the 3 Rs of trauma as powerful tools, turning adversity into achievement, helping trauma-affected children grow into happy, healthy, and productive adults.
Dr. Liraz is a neuroscientist and educator. She loves writing about the inner workings of child brain. In her spare time, she is seen chasing her daughter around the playground and sprinting after the family Airedale dog, who is always getting in trouble.
Reference:
Trauma & Young Children. Teaching strategies to support & empower. Erdman & Colker with Winter. NAEYC, 2020.