The Impact of Trauma, Abuse and Neglect on Development

It was not until the early 1990s that the fields of mental health and child welfare paid much attention to the impact of traumatic events on children. Over the past decade, we have learned a tremendous amount about trauma and child abuse and neglect, and what types of support and treatment are most helpful for healing from traumatic experiences.

The information in this next section is adapted from The Journal of Traumatic Stress written by Mary Harvey.

"Trauma: a single event or series of events over time, which can tax or overwhelm a person or community's resources and sense of wellbeing."

Most of us have experienced some type of trauma over the course of our lives, and our responses and recovery processes are all different, based upon various factors in our lives.

How an individual reacts to trauma depends on a number of variables in their lives. 3 of these variables are:

• The person - their age, ethnicity, gender
  
• The event - when it happened, where it happened, were there others around, one time or a series, was a weapon used, threats
  
• The environment - where they live, support systems they have, the relationship to the abuser, family response, police response

None of us is immune to experiencing trauma, however much we may try to protect ourselves. We are differentiated by the specific traumas we experience, the personal resources we possess, and the context in which we live. For some, trauma results in devastation of the spirit that is never repaired, with or without therapeutic intervention. For others, a similar trauma, while initially devastating, is blended into the person's totality of experience and they recover successfully, with or without therapeutic intervention.