Incorporating trauma informed principles and practices into healthcare delivery is essential for improving health. And, preventing or mitiga

Over two-thirds of American children will experience at least one traumatic event by the time they reach sixteen years of age. And yet, understanding of trauma, its effects on health, and tools to help victims begin to heal remains uncommon amongst adults who care for and serve children. The American Psychological Association describes a traumatic event as one that “threatens injury, death, or the physical integrity of self or others and also causes horror, terror, or helples

Research on the powerful effect of trauma on health and child development continues to build, collectively describing a foundational element of pediatric science: traumatic childhood experiences – even in infancy – have a profound effect on the developing architecture of the brain, and on a child’s long-term health. Research tells us that experiencing trauma during childhood is pervasive: more than two-thirds of children under the age of sixteen have experienced a traumatic e

Decades of neuroscientific and behavioral research has demonstrated that early experiences influence all future learning and greatly impact overall health. In the first few years of life, nerve cells in our brains make more than 700 connections per second, and these connections are created, reinforced or eliminated based on the stimulus we receive as infants. An animated illustration of the relationship between stimuli, brain development and well-being is presented in this