The Repair of Early Trauma: A Bottom Up Approach

00:11:17
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOCTxcaNHeg

Summary

TLDRThis content delves into developmental trauma, its impact on children, and strategies for healing their brains. Traditional descriptions of attachment disorders are just a piece of the broader concept of developmental trauma, which affects emotional regulation and behavior. The neurosequential model of therapeutics is emphasized as a crucial method for repairing the brain. This involves a structured approach where all involved—parents, teachers, therapists, and doctors—must collaborate and address the child's needs comprehensively. The brain develops from the bottom up, requiring treatment in a specific order, starting from the brain stem, moving through the limbic areas, and finally, the cortical regions where higher functions reside. Each child's unique experiences necessitate tailored interventions, taking into account their developmental rather than chronological age. The approach must be flexible, adapting as the child's environment or circumstances change, and stressing the importance of consistent, nurturing relationships in overcoming trauma.

Takeaways

  • 🧩 Developmental trauma is like a seven-piece jigsaw puzzle affecting children.
  • 👩‍👧‍👦 A collaborative team approach is crucial for healing.
  • 🔄 Children adapt their attachment styles for survival.
  • 🧠 Treatment follows the brain's sequence—brain stem first.
  • 🤝 Relationships are essential for healing relationship trauma.
  • 🏠 Home, school, and therapy must work together.
  • 🛡️ Safe, nurturing environments foster brain repair.
  • 👶 Babies can also experience developmental trauma.
  • 📊 Proper assessments guide targeted therapy.
  • ⚙️ Persistence and time are key to changing the brain.

Timeline

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    Developmental trauma is not just due to attachment disorder but comprises a seven-piece jigsaw puzzle that includes adverse childhood experiences affecting emotional worlds and behaviors. The Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics offers a way to repair brain damage caused by such trauma, focusing on collaboration among caregivers, schools, and healthcare to ensure successful healing. Understanding this complex blend can help in combating forms of developmental trauma, which not only affects older children but also infants. Early adverse experiences hinder proper brain development, termed as brain damage, which can be reversed through systematic therapeutic interventions.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:11:17

    Developmental trauma traps a child in survival mode, hindering emotional and behavioral regulation. Addressing it requires understanding the brain’s hierarchical development: the brain stem, followed by the limbic brain, and lastly the cortical brain. Specific therapies target specific brain areas. Ensuring supportive, stable environments is critical, especially focusing therapies at the right brain level and responding to developmental age rather than chronological age. Collaboration across all adult roles, such as home, school, and therapy, is necessary. Assessments help identify where in the developmental ladder the aid is most needed for effective healing.

Mind Map

Video Q&A

  • What is the neurosequential model of therapeutics?

    It is an approach to repair the brain in a specific sequence, aiding those with developmental trauma by involving all care-giving environments like home, school, and therapy.

  • How do children adapt their attachment styles?

    Children adapt their attachment styles by changing behaviors to survive different environments, demonstrating resilience and flexibility.

  • What are the seven pieces of developmental trauma?

    The seven pieces include somatic and sensory issues, attachment, emotional and behavioral regulation in the limbic brain, self-esteem issues, dissociation, and cognitive problems in the cortical brain.

  • Can babies also experience developmental trauma?

    Yes, even babies can experience developmental trauma, especially if they are removed from their mothers at birth.

  • Who needs to be involved in treating developmental trauma?

    Everyone in the child's environment, including home, school, therapists, and doctors, needs to work collaboratively as a team.

  • Why might normal parenting not work for a child with developmental trauma?

    Children with developmental trauma require therapeutic parenting approaches to help them regulate and feel safe.

  • How can traumatic experiences affect brain development?

    Early adverse experiences can disrupt normal brain development, leading to issues in emotional and behavioral regulation and cognitive functioning.

  • Why must treatment follow a specific sequence?

    The brain develops from the bottom up, so starting with the brain stem is crucial for effective healing.

  • What should caregivers focus on in treating developmental trauma?

    Caregivers should focus on consistency, predictable patterns, and integrating all care environments in their approach.

  • What role do relationships play in healing?

    Relationships are pivotal in healing; stable, nurturing connections can help mend relationship trauma.

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  • 00:00:05
    adults often tell me of an attachment
  • 00:00:08
    disorder but is this what's really going
  • 00:00:10
    on in my
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    brain it is actually only one part of a
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    seven piece jigsaw puzzle called
  • 00:00:16
    developmental trauma if you put this
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    puzzle together you can understand how
  • 00:00:22
    my adverse childhood experiences have
  • 00:00:26
    shaped my emotional world and behavior
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    you see
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    once you have taken the time to
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    understand this you can help me using
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    something called the neurosequential
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    model of Therapeutics it's not as
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    complicated as it
  • 00:00:42
    sounds it repairs my brain in a special
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    order but everyone who's part of my
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    world needs to work together to make
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    sure that I have the best chance to
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    heal this means home school therapy and
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    even my doctor needs to work together as
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    a team
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    if you get this right my developmental
  • 00:01:02
    trauma can be
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    repaired you have probably heard of
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    attachment Styles most people working
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    with children and young people have it's
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    the way children's brains have developed
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    to survive dangerous situations by
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    behaving in a certain way we believe
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    that adults around us Will Keep Us
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    Alive but now Dr Patricia christon has
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    proved that children are even more
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    incredible at surviving than we first
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    fought she has shown that we don't
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    always stay in one attachment style we
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    change and organize our Behavior to make
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    sure we can survive in the moment we are
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    in in fact I'm so incredible at changing
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    my behavior to survive my different
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    environments it can be hard for you to
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    believe what's really going on inside of
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    me I can be very good at school but
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    break down at home or unable to cope
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    with school but be great at home
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    we are starting to realize that not all
  • 00:02:03
    grown-ups know about the seven piece
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    jigsaw puzzle called developmental
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    trauma a child who has had early life
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    traumas will show symptoms developmental
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    trauma is a set of profound problems in
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    all areas of my
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    development it's not just older children
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    who can suffer from developmental trauma
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    babies can experience it too even if
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    they removed from their mother at Birth
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    and placed in a safe new home
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    any child who has lived in an
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    environment where the trusted adults
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    have not consistently met their
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    emotional physical needs and any child
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    who has suffered separation and loss
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    from their family can SE suffer
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    developed mental
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    trauma a psychiatrist belth vaner cul
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    has taught us that the seven jigsaw
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    pieces of Developmental trauma
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    includes sematic sensory issues in my
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    brain
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    stem attachment emotional regulation and
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    behavioral regulation issues in my
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    limbic
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    brain selfesteem issues dissociation and
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    cognitive problems in my cortical brain
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    if you want to support me then you need
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    to consider every single one of these
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    jigsaw
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    pieces because I suffered early adverse
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    experiences my brain is not working the
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    way it
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    should as my brain grew the toxic
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    environment I was in stopped it from
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    developing in the way it should
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    essentially giving me brain
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    damage but with your help my brain can
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    be repaired however it needs to be done
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    in the right order using the right tools
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    with everyone working together as a team
  • 00:03:45
    for this to happen a psychiatrist called
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    Bruce Perry has developed
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    neurosequential model of Therapeutics
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    that helps us treat kids brains in the
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    right order because even if you are the
  • 00:03:58
    best most amazing therapist in the world
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    if you start in the wrong time and place
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    it won't
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    work brain develops from the bottom up
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    first the brain stem grows this is where
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    my motor and sensory input is found
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    secondly my lyic brain grows this is
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    where my attachment emotions and
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    behavior are held third is my cortical
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    brain this is where I do my thinking
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    inhibiting and learning the job of my
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    primitive brain the brain stem is to
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    keep me safe it is the part of me that
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    keeps me alive this was extra important
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    when I was in a dangerous environment it
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    sent me into fight flight or freeze
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    whatever I needed to survive the problem
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    is my brain got stuck there so now I am
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    safe I can't switch my primitive brain
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    off I'm always in survival mode my
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    everyday life still feels dangerous
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    because I'm stuck here not much can get
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    past it up to the other areas of my
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    brain this means that I find it really
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    hard to form deep
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    relationships manage my emotions and
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    behavior think and learn and
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    understand I am simply trying to stay
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    alive I am stuck in a survival
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    loop I am hyper alert to Danger I
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    experience life as normal cues or danger
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    cues I go into fight flight freeze
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    continuously I cannot take in nurture or
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    information to make sense of
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    Q so my brain has
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    developed from the bottom up the higher
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    parts of my brain and not getting the
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    right
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    messages importantly if I'm stuck in the
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    Primitive brain I will not be able to
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    learn no matter how good my teacher
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    is a proper assessment can show us
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    whether a child needs support to develop
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    their brain stem their limit brain or
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    their cortical brain different therapies
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    are good for different parts of the
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    brain not all children need to start at
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    the bottom in the brain
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    stem it is also important to stay
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    flexible when treating developmental
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    trauma for example a child could be well
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    regulated and working on attachment in
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    their limbic brain but then they might
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    have a big change happen in their
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    life they might move to secondary school
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    or perhaps have a
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    bement this may trigger a brain stem
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    response for a few weeks or month this
  • 00:06:44
    means they might need a different focus
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    in therapy to help them get regulated
  • 00:06:49
    again before they can start thinking and
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    connecting in their limic brain again
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    the ideal is that the child and the
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    therapy moves the a little bit of
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    fluidity between the different brain
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    regions but only does reflective stuff
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    in the lyic and cortical brain If the
  • 00:07:08
    child is safe and
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    regulated so what does this knowledge
  • 00:07:13
    mean how can the different grown-ups in
  • 00:07:16
    my life work together to help repair my
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    brain one everyone needs to understand
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    developmental trauma two make sure every
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    environment in my life is stable
  • 00:07:30
    three make sure your most trusted adult
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    is supported and nurtured if home is not
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    safe nothing else will be
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    affective four look after my trusted
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    adult their brain is my safe face if
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    they are okay over time it will calm my
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    fear five start in my brain Stone I
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    cannot process conversations until my
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    primitive brain has been repaired if you
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    try I will fail and you could make
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    things worse as my brain is trying to do
  • 00:08:02
    something it isn't capable of at the
  • 00:08:06
    moment six normal parenting doesn't work
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    my parental care will need to parent me
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    therapeutically and will need support
  • 00:08:14
    doing this so they can teach me how to
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    regulate my world and I can learn to
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    feel safe in that relationship seven if
  • 00:08:22
    I'm stuck in my brain stem the treatment
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    needs to be patent and
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    repetitive I need my fear respon calmed
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    and to reatune in my important
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    relationship this sensory Works needs to
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    be done first before I can process any
  • 00:08:39
    other type of
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    therapy a retraining my brain stem will
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    take time I need consistent predictable
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    patterned and very frequent brain stem
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    activities before you can expect me to
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    think learn and reflect changing my
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    whole brain will take persistence and
  • 00:08:59
    time
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    nine each part of my world needs to be
  • 00:09:03
    working on the same place brain repair
  • 00:09:06
    bottom up home school and therapy need
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    to understand which part of the brain
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    they are working on and doing it
  • 00:09:15
    together 10 arrange my world according
  • 00:09:19
    to my brain age not my birth age
  • 00:09:21
    responding to my developmental age will
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    be more effective in the moment than
  • 00:09:25
    assuming my chronological age is the way
  • 00:09:29
    to to approach me 11 I'm unique a proper
  • 00:09:33
    trauma informed psychological assessment
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    will tell you where I stuck and the best
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    place to start my
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    treatment 12 help me as early as
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    possible if you can start working on my
  • 00:09:47
    brain stem the moment I am safe it will
  • 00:09:50
    help my brain repair faster and mean I
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    don't have to grow up experience the
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    pain of my brain
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    injury 13 like you I'm a complex being
  • 00:10:01
    and I need every part of my world
  • 00:10:03
    working together to help repair my brain
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    you must work together for any work that
  • 00:10:09
    is being done to be effective if you
  • 00:10:12
    want me to meet the separate Mor stones
  • 00:10:14
    in my different worlds schools homes and
  • 00:10:17
    therapy you must all be working using
  • 00:10:20
    the same
  • 00:10:21
    approach 14 be a safe healthy caring and
  • 00:10:25
    consistent adult we are all designed to
  • 00:10:28
    exist together ever has closed
  • 00:10:31
    communities I need
  • 00:10:35
    you at Beacon House I'm supported and
  • 00:10:38
    surrounded by a team of people all
  • 00:10:40
    working from the same place home school
  • 00:10:44
    therapy and my wide support network of
  • 00:10:46
    family and friends relationships heal
  • 00:10:49
    relationship
  • 00:10:51
    trauma now you understand how a
  • 00:10:53
    scientific approach to Healing can make
  • 00:10:56
    a real difference to me what can you do
  • 00:10:58
    different to
  • 00:11:00
    help how can you change my future
Tags
  • developmental trauma
  • attachment styles
  • brain development
  • neurosequential model
  • emotional regulation
  • team approach
  • therapy
  • adverse childhood experiences
  • brain repair
  • relationship trauma