{"id":2056,"date":"2022-10-27T15:30:04","date_gmt":"2022-10-27T14:30:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unit.law\/?p=2056"},"modified":"2022-12-14T10:37:36","modified_gmt":"2022-12-14T10:37:36","slug":"developmental-trauma-what-is-this-and-can-we-make-a-difference-to-the-outcomes-for-children-and-young-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unit.law\/developmental-trauma-what-is-this-and-can-we-make-a-difference-to-the-outcomes-for-children-and-young-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Developmental Trauma – what is this and can we make a difference to the outcomes for children and young people?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The primary driving force behind why we do what we do, as professionals within the family justice system, is to try to achieve positive outcomes for children and their families.<\/span><\/p>

Ultimately the objective of state intervention can be nothing less, in my view, than \u201csupporting children to develop into well-adjusted and functioning adults who have a significantly reduced risk of repeating the problems within their own childhood, when they themselves have families\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The question is \u2013 are we actually achieving this, and if not, where might change be required in our understanding of the processes from a behavioural and psychological perspective? Are we identifying actual or potential psychological harms and their physical symptoms at the right point in time and providing therapeutic input at the right time?<\/span><\/p>

In the current climate where funding and available resources are severely stretched, it is becoming increasingly difficult to ensure that vulnerable children and their families are being provided with the right support at the right time. Consequently, children and their families can often find themselves distressed, feeling helpless and unsupported, resulting in adverse childhood experiences, which can lead to developmental trauma, which, if not addressed in a timely and appropriate fashion, can significantly impact how children function throughout their lifetime.<\/span><\/p>

A key area, which appears to be increasingly an area for attention is Developmental Trauma.<\/span><\/p>\n

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What is \u2018Developmental Trauma\u2019?<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

\u2018When children experience early loss, separation, abuse or neglect their brain development is affected in significant ways. They often experience what is known as \u2018Developmental Trauma\u2019, which means their development has gone off track and they cannot behave, feel, relate and learn like other children their age.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Developmental trauma is not confined to pre-schoolers or older children and adolescents. Neuro-scientific evidence shows that unborn babies and very young babies can also suffer trauma, for example, if the birth mother was in an abusive relationship, abused substances and alcohol, has a history of trauma herself or has a history of poor mental health. Separation from the mother at birth is a significant source of trauma and cannot be understated, similarly, following separation from a birth mother, a future separation from a familiar foster carer is a replication of that trauma. We all know these experiences for a child will be stressful, but perhaps the significance has not been given the focus that it should.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our framework for protection of a vulnerable child can itself inflict significant and potentially enduring trauma memories in a child. Adversity, stress and loss have the greatest impact in the first eight weeks of a baby\u2019s life; whilst the child may not recall a specific traumatic event or incident, in an infant, the brain is underdeveloped but the \u201cmemory\u201d is held within the body.* A certain behaviour, smell or environment can trigger negative responses as a consequence of Developmental Trauma and these responses may endure into adulthood without the individual ever really being able to articulate why.<\/span><\/p>\n

Herein lies what might be the beginning of the cycle of repeat poor parenting that our system struggles so much to break. Our teenage mum, a care leaver, is probably struggling with her behaviour, is volatile and has an inability to engage because she has suffered developmental trauma, which may never have been properly addressed during her time as a child in the child protection system.<\/span><\/p>\n

*An informative read on this subject can be found in \u201cThe Body Keeps the Score\u201d \u2013 Bessel van der Kolk.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

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What are the signs of Developmental Trauma?<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

Early identification of Developmental Trauma is key in ensuring positive outcomes for children. Quite often, children with Developmental Trauma can be mislabelled as being \u2018naughty\u2019, \u2018autistic\u2019, \u2018ADHD\u2019 or as having \u2018behavioural problems\u2019.\u00a0 This in turn can lead to inadequate or inappropriate support for the child, which can result in children developing unhealthy coping strategies and difficulty with daily living skills such as being able to manage impulses, problem solve or learn new information, resulting in them continually existing in \u2018fight\/flight\/freeze\/collapse\u2019 mode and never feeling safe throughout their lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

Children (and the adults they grow into) with Developmental Trauma can present with an array of different signs:<\/span><\/p>\n