What is Trauma?

According to Harvard University's Center on the Developing Child, trauma is an experience of serious adversity or terror—or the emotional or psychological response to that experience.

Each person experiences trauma differently, and every person reacts different to the traumas they experience. An event that is mildly distressing for one person may trigger a complete mental overload for someone else. These differences are often associated with the patterns, perceptions, and beliefs that each person has lived through.

Typically, childhood trauma causes the greatest impact in a person's ability to handle stress and conflict in healthy ways. The frequency and severity of a person's childhood trauma play a vital role in that person's ability to feel safe with and connected to the people around them.

NEGLECT

Emotional Neglect

Examples

The caregivers frequently fail to recognize a child's sadness, anger, or anxiety
The caregivers call a child too sensitive or dramatic
The caregivers are often uninterested in listening when a child is talking
The caregivers frequently ignore the child's emotional wellbeing
The caregivers frequently send a child to their room for crying
The caregivers avoid a child's emotions by sharing their own

Physical Neglect

Emotional Neglect

Examples

The caregivers fail to provide adequate food, water, clothing, healthcare, or supervision for a child
The caregivers intentionally withholding food, water, clothing, shelter, or other necessities
The caregivers force the child to be outside in inclement weather without appropriate clothing
The caregivers don't provide the child with a safe environment
The caregivers engage in reckless behavior that jeopardize the child’s wellbeing

ABUSE

Verbal Abuse

Emotional Abuse

Examples

Yelling or swearing at the child
Constantly criticizing or picking on the child
Gaslighting (denying the child's valid experience)
Humiliating or teasing the child
Blaming the child for an adult's problems
Threatening to hurt or abandon the child

Emotional Abuse

Examples

Manipulation and mind games, including tactics such as "silent treatment"
Insulting, name-calling, or swearing at a child
Shaming, rejecting, and withholding love
Intentionally causing the child feel afraid
Exposing the child to witnessing violence

Physical Abuse

Examples

Pinching, scratching, shaking, throwing, or hitting a child
Beating a child with a fist or object, such as a belt, shoe, or stick
Intentionally burning or scalding a child
Choking, suffocating, or holding a child underwater
Kicking, pushing, pulling, or biting a child
Using physical restraint as a punishment for unwanted behavior

Sexual Abuse

Physical Abuse

Examples

Persistently intruding on a child’s privacy
Touching or looking at a child's body inappropriately for sexual pleasure
Coercion of a child to perform sexual acts
Forcing a child to watch a sexual act
Having sex with a child

CHALLENGES AT HOME

Mental Illness

Domestic Violence

Substance Abuse

Anxiety Disorders
Mood Disorders
Personality Disorders
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Eating Disorders
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Gaming Disorder (gambling)

Substance Abuse

Domestic Violence

Substance Abuse

Caregivers may struggle to provide a safe and nurturing environment while under the influence of substance abuse
Many children who live with a caregiver experiencing substance abuse issues are subjected to neglect, abuse, and/or overindulgence.

Domestic Violence

Physical abuse- touch intended to intimidate or hurt, including hitting, pushing, and physical restraint
Emotional abuse- threats, manipulation, gaslighting, isolation
Sexual abuse- sexual coercion, rape
Financial abuse- withholding funds, forbidding financial independence

Divorce

Incarceration

Domestic Violence

Many adults who faced parental divorce as children have shared that the splitting of parents was not necessarily the difficult aspect of the divorce. They report that the conflict between parents was the traumatic aspect of the divorce. Peaceful, amicable divorces tend to have a lesser impact on children's overstress levels.

Incarceration

Typically, when a child has a parent who is incarcerated, they experience a deep sense of confusion, loss, and shame and are feel stigmatized without societal support or understanding.

What is Trauma?

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)

NEGLECT

Emotional Neglect

Emotional Neglect

Emotional Neglect

Physical Neglect

Emotional Neglect

Emotional Neglect

ABUSE

Verbal Abuse

Emotional Abuse

Emotional Abuse

Emotional Abuse

Emotional Abuse

Emotional Abuse

Physical Abuse

Physical Abuse

Physical Abuse

Sexual Abuse

Physical Abuse

Physical Abuse

CHALLENGES AT HOME

Mental Illness

Domestic Violence

Substance Abuse

Substance Abuse

Domestic Violence

Substance Abuse

Domestic Violence

Domestic Violence

Domestic Violence

Divorce

Incarceration

Domestic Violence

Incarceration

Incarceration

Incarceration

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