Trauma And Child Observation Report

Transition: Let’s examine the aftermath of trauma on a child and how it affects their present lives and future development.

Sixty percent of adults report experiencing abuse or other difficult family circumstances during childhood. (Mental Health Connection, N.D.). This shocking statistic exemplifies the high prevalence of childhood trauma. Furthermore, twenty-six percent of children in the United States will witness or experience a traumatic event before the age of four. (Mental Health Connection, N.D.) Trauma is an extremely common and complex phenomenon. But what is trauma? According to Merriam Webster, trauma is defined as, “a disordered psychic or behavioral state resulting from severe mental or emotional stress or physical injury.” (Merriam Webster, 2017). Dr. Lenore C. Terr from the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of America further describes trauma as unique to each individual. It can be caused by a series of events or one severe incident. Unfortunately, childhood trauma is usually experienced repeatedly. For example, many children endure sexual abuse, bullying, and severe family problems over and over again. Children may experience a variety of traumas that have lasting consequences on their mental health. Those who experience childhood trauma are more likely to develop psychological disorders. This occurs because their brains lack neuroplasticity, which inhibits their ability to adapt to various stressful circumstances.

In the case study by Ghosh-Ippen, Lieberman, and NCTSN Core Curriculum on Childhood Trauma Task Force (2012), Amarika is an 18-month-old girl who witnessed the shooting of her mother Makisha at a neighborhood park. Her mother survived the shooting, but was in the hospital for some time after to recover. Her grandmother, Marlene Lawrence, cared for Amarika. Mrs. Lawrence reported that Amarika was refusing to eat and having difficulty sleeping. This is when the social worker, Carla, was contacted to provide trauma intervention for Amarika.

deal with it in a way that works for them. To refer to the “Myths of

“American Psychiatric Association defines trauma as an event that represents a threat to life or personal integrity. Trauma can also be experienced when children are faced with a caregiver who acts erratically, emotional and /or physical neglect, and exploitation” (Maltby, L., & Hall, T. 2012. p. 304). Trauma comes in many different forms including: war, rape, kidnapping, abuse, sudden injury, and

Your introduction is very engaging and emphasizes the important role of communication after experiencing trauma. I believe your topic is very relatable because there is a sense of denial, seclusion, and dissociation that correlates with trauma and loss that many of us have experienced. Open communication within a family unit provides opportunities to express thoughts and feelings and develop appropriate coping strategies (Zambianchi & Bitti, 2014). In your intro you stated, "The impact childhood trauma has on our society and on children." As a suggestion, maybe you could expand on this statement or state specific impacts childhood trauma has on our society or on children. I love your examples of evidenced based interventions and how

Childhood is a time for playdates and learning, a time for big dreams and imaginary adventures. Safety and security should not be questions that linger in uncertainty. However, this is not the case for many children across the globe. Thousands of children from all walks of life each day are faced with unspeakable horror and must deal with the resulting trauma from then on. However, in children, managing this trauma takes a different toll on the mind and heart than it does in adults. While the type of trauma may vary in pervasiveness across countries, trauma occurring in childhood has the ability to cause long term damage to the growing neurological functioning in the brain and negatively influence children’s spiritual development, wounding

Post-traumatic stress disorder has a major effect on school-age children. Not only it can impact their academic performance but also their well-being. A post-traumatic stress disorder can happen after experiencing or witnessing an event that threaten one’s life or make one question his or her safety. Such event includes an accident, death, war, a serious illness, a sexual abuse, a physical assault, a domestic violence or a natural disaster. As a result to experiencing or witnessing such trauma, a post-traumatic stress disorder may develop but it all depend on how severe is the trauma, how people around the individual (such as parents) react to the trauma, and how far or close the person is to the trauma.

Since beginning the Early Childhood Trauma project little has not surprised me. When we first discussed the project and learned that the men volunteered to participate in this study due to personal desire I was shocked. Maybe it is due to my personal biases, but I would never expect these men, who have mainly negative experiences with institutions to participate in an institutionally based intervention project. The men volunteering for this project indicated that I should attempt to limit guiding my process by preconceived notions and instead be as partial as possible. My lack of understanding, misconceptions and absence of personal experience that relates to these topics no doubt is partially why I find the majority of the information surprising. However, the experience of our first meeting, which I am examining here, was surprising for a different set of reasons. There were several moments during our meeting with DeAndre, Luis, Angle, Junito and Ron I would classify as 'disorienting', and I will reflect and synthesize them in the following paper. They apply to atmosphere, unforeseen commonalities and knowledge,

My awakening to the significance of child protection and injury prevention through the medical field became apparent to me my freshman year in high school. I began making countless efforts to raise money for vaccination in an effort to combat Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus in third world countries. I also became aware about the issues of Pediatric Trauma and how 90% of unintentional injuries can be prevented so I raised $1000 dollars for the Pediatric Trauma Program. The money fundraised will be used to educate not only the community but professionals pursuing a profession in the medical field in order to reduce the number of children who are killed or injured by trauma. Lastly I helped raise money for the Children's Miracle Network in order to directly benefit hospitals, helping to purchase up-to-date equipment, train staff, conduct life-saving research, implement outreach programs, and provide healthcare for children whose parents can't afford

Trauma is very complex and varied in its nature. Traumatic events include child abuse, neglect and maltreatment. Wamser‐Nanney & Vandenberg (2013) found that one of the more harmful types of trauma is the abuse is committed intentionally. This directly impacts the victim 's safety and sense of trust. The devastating effects of this type of trauma is the way in which it impacts not only the survivors, but also future generations, and the ability they have to form attachments (Connolly, 2011).

Childhood trauma is one of the most heartbreaking situations to ever fathom happening. Childhood trauma includes neglect, maltreatment, physical and emotional abuse, and many other forms of mistreatment amongst children. Childhood trauma occurs between the ages of 0 and 6 years of age. When referencing to childhood trauma, one must take thought into who commits the abuse, who is affected by the abuse, and what long term effects can the abuse have on the victims. One must also take into consideration the sex differences when referring to childhood trauma. Numerous of studies have been conducted and many findings have been made. Prior to conducting this research paper, I only considered childhood trauma to be what it was and never considered the long term effects. Because of my assumption, I never even considered the other categories of the trauma.

Robinson, Smith, and Segal (2012) defines emotional and psychological trauma as the result of stressful events that shatter a person’s sense of security, feeling helpless and vulnerable in a dangerous world. A person’s subjective emotional experience of the event is what determines if the event is traumatic. Some causes to emotional and psychological trauma is 1) happens unexpectedly, 2) unprepared, 3) powerless to prevent it, 4) happens repeatedly, 5) someone being intentionally cruel, and 6) happened in childhood. Some commonly overlooked causes of emotional and psychological trauma are 1) falls or sports injuries, 2) surgeries, 3) sudden death of someone close, 4) car accident, 5) break up of a significant relationship, 6) humiliating or deeply disappointing experience, and 7) a discovery of a life-threatening illness or disability (Robinson, Smith, & Segal, 2012). Some symptoms of emotional and psychological trauma is shock, anger, mood swings, guilt,

According to Merriam-Webster (web dictionary), trauma is an unpleasant or difficult experience that causes a disordered psychic, mental, behavioral, and emotional problem. Wright (2011), explains that when children experienced trauma, they no longer perceive that our world as safe, and, the effects of trauma can be mild, moderate, or, severe depending on the child’s personality, culture, spiritual beliefs, or, the meanings they give to the event itself (p. 190-191).

Loss of speech, sleeplessness, self-harms, nightmares, having suicidal thoughts or actions are some signs that indicate a child that has experienced a traumatic event. Trauma is a reflective emotion, triggered by how an individual /child may react to a frightening or shocking situation. It is defined by the reaction of the child to a specific event. However, trauma to one child may not be trauma to another. But the child that experiences this can be scared for a lifetime. This strain can begin as soon as birth is given to a child, throughout his /her eighteen (18) years of childhood. Nevertheless that child can have flashback of the event straight over into their adulthood depending on how they cope with the situation.