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Understanding Childhood Trauma
There are many reasons a child will end up in foster care. Even being put in foster care can be traumatic in itself because the child is taken from family or their caretaker.
Childhood trauma can be a child witnessing something traumatic like a divorce or violence in the home to the child being abused or neglected. Unresolved trauma can manifest itself in many ways as the child gets older. Trauma stays with you and affects every aspect of life. Childhood trauma is like experiencing grief.
The foster care system is designed to protect the children that are placed in their care and shield them from further trauma. Children have a hard time expressing their emotions and behavior. Trauma affects many of the children in foster care worldwide.
Identifying trauma in your foster child can mean paying close attention to their behavior. Signs that a child could be dealing with traumatic stress are fear, anger, withdrawal, trouble concentrating, digestive problems, and nightmares, and they may also act out.
It may take talking to a trusted adult or therapist for that child to express what’s really going on with them, it’s not always obvious to see how much they are hurting. Children can have flashbacks as if they are re-experiencing the trauma.
