The impact of Developmental Trauma can be significant and affects how a child might respond in every day situations. Children’s brains can become ‘wired for trauma’ which means their brain is wired in a particular way to deal with stress and what they perceive as life threatening siituations. Babies are completely dependent on their caregivers to survive, to keep them safe from harm. If they grow up in a warm, loving environment where they have their physical, emotional and all their caregiving needs met consistently, then their brain is wired in a healthy manner by these experiences. These are generally children who grow up with positive feelings about themselves, their families and of the wider world.

For children who have experienced neglect and abuse, they experience very inconsistent care or consistently poor care and it’s because children are so young and vulnerable that these experiences affect them so much. Their experiences might feature domestic violence, parents who are drug or alcohol addicted, have mental health problems, learning difficulties or parents who themselves have experienced neglect and abuse in their childhoods and unfortunately repeat similar patterns. When children grow up in environments with these experiences then their bodies and brains become wired and alert for threat and survival. Unfortunately, these reactions do not go away even when they move to safer homes and care. They continue to respond and react as if still under threat.

Dr Bessel van der Kolk a trauma specialist talks about ‘the body keeps the score’. This relates to how the body and brain processes and stores memories and experiences even in those very early years. Many children need help to learn how to feel safe, to experience adults as safe and calm their nervous systems so they are not constantly on high alert and over react to normal everyday situations.