The impact of trauma on a developing mind
When I first started working with families impacted by domestic violence, I was trained to believe that the children who would be most affected by the abuse, both in the short and long term, were the children who were old enough to understand what was happening. Many of the professionals I worked with and many of the non-abusive caregivers were less concerned about the very young children- children who were 0-3 years old- because the conventional wisdom at the time was that they were too young to understand what happened, too young to remember it, and would therefore be less impacted.
Turns out we were wrong. Very wrong.
If you’ve ever spent time with a baby or a toddler, you’ve observed just how much the human brain learns in those first few years of life. In the first few weeks, a baby learns so much about their caregiver, finds ways to communicate their basic needs, and shares meaningful smiles with those around them. A baby who at first can’t hold their head up can sit up unassisted in an average of six to nine short months, and within another 6 months, many babies are crawling, walking, and starting to say their first words. The significant development that happens in the brain during early childhood can be significantly impacted when a child experiences trauma because the ability to learn and the brain’s development are significantly influenced by the child’s environment.
Our brains develop from the back to the front, which is why the prefrontal cortex—also called the “learning brain”—continues to develop until it is 25 years old. The back part of the brain is what we often refer to as the “survival brain,” and it is developed first because its primary focus is keeping you alive. When there is a perceived threat, the brain is focused on survival and can’t engage in learning; the learning brain requires a sense of safety.
For a child who is raised in an environment with a lot of stress, abuse, or when a child is experiencing neglect, the survival brain is constantly being activated. In contrast, the learning brain is not given as much opportunity to be activated and engaged. The different parts of our brains need activation and engagement to develop. A child born into and/or raised in a home with abuse and/or neglect has an overdeveloped survival response. In other words, a child raised in a house that lacks safety, stability, and predictability has a brain trained to survive an unsafe world. Many things, places, and people will appear threatening to that child, and they may react in ways that don’t seem logical to an outsider.
The good news is that healing is possible. The brain is constantly developing and has the ability to rewire, restructure, and adapt. So, while the impact of exposure to trauma early in life can have very real consequences, the ability to heal and transform is also very real. Healing rarely happens in isolation; healing occurs in relationships and connection. Dr. Bruce Perry, a world-renowned expert on the impact of Early-Life Stress (ELS) on the brain, says that “relationships are the agents of change.” Many children who are experiencing trauma may take months or even years to tell someone about what they’ve experienced. Caring adults in a child’s life, such as teachers, coaches, counselors, and extended family, can have a profound impact on a child’s ability to heal, even if they don’t know the specifics of the trauma a child has or is currently experiencing. In our next blog, we will share how teachers can foster trauma-informed learning environments where all children can feel seen, supported, and cared about, and have a much better chance at thriving academically and developmentally.
Want to learn more? JT Consulting offers virtual and in-person training on Supporting Children and Families Exposed to Domestic Violence. Reach out today to learn more!
