Trauma informed practice means being aware of how trauma has affected young children; how they are often labelled and what we might do to within the healing process. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, childhood trauma is defined as: “the experience of an event by a child that is emotionally painful or distressing, which often results in lasting mental health and physical affects: - such as abuse, neglect, separation and death of a loved one.

We are only just beginning to really understand the impact of trauma and how to work with it – so often it’s easier to label a child, such as difficult, disengaged, manipulative etc. rather than understand the story behind it.

Research shows that for some people, suffering from 3 or more traumas in our early childhood years can affect their mental health if unprocessed.  It also suggests that it can affect our physical health, how long we live, and some research suggests that it can even affect our DNA, how it is read and transcribed.