Butterflies Child & Adolescent Counselling Service
How Trauma Affects Child Brain Development
A key fact that professionals working with children know is that there are critical developmental times when neural pathways are being formed that can be significantly altered by traumatic events (Perry, 1995, 2009).
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Exposure to chronic, prolonged traumatic experiences has the potential to alter children’s brains, which may cause longer-term effects in areas such as:
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Attachment: Trouble with relationships, boundaries, empathy, and social isolation
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Physical Health: Impaired sensorimotor development, coordination problems, increased medical problems, and somatic symptoms
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Emotional Regulation: Difficulty identifying or labeling feelings and communicating needs
Dissociation: Altered states of consciousness, amnesia, impaired memory
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Cognitive Ability: Problems with focus, learning, processing new information, language development, planning and orientation to time and space
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Self-Concept: Lack of consistent sense of self, body image issues, low self-esteem,shame and guilt
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Behavioral Control: Difficulty controlling impulses, oppositional behavior, aggression, disrupted sleep and eating patterns, trauma re-enactment
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Source: Cook, et al, 2005
