Supporting Children Who Have Experienced Trauma

The videos in this series explain how traumatic experiences can affect young children's behaviors, how educators can respond to trauma-related behaviors, and how educators can create classroom environments that build children's resilience.

Understanding the Potential Effects of Trauma on Young Children (7:51, 2023)

This video describes how traumatic experiences can affect children’s behavior in early childhood settings, and how educators can ensure they respond to children with compassion and understanding. It emphasizes asking "What happened to you?" rather than "What's wrong with you?"

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Creating Classroom Environments that Build Resilience (6:26, 2023)

In this video, experts address ways to structure the classroom environment in way that best supports the needs of children who have experienced trauma and builds resilience in ALL children. Experts discuss the importance of predictability, controllability, and moderate challenges.

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Responding to Trauma-Related Behaviors in Early Childhood Settings (8:25, 2023)

When young children have experienced trauma, it affects their behavior and interactions in the classroom. In this video, experts discuss how the organization of the brain affects children's response to trauma and discuss regulatory and relational strategies that are most effective at supporting children demonstrating trauma-related behaviors.

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Related Videos
- Understanding Challenging Behavior in Young Children (16:22, 2015)
- Reflecting on Our Reactions and Responses to Children's Behavior (6:48, 2015)
- Building Positive Relationships with Young Children (9:20, 2016)
- Other videos related to supporting children's social and emotional development
Acknowledgements
Some of the video footage in this series was originally recorded as part of a project that developed an online learning module for home visitors on supporting families who have experienced trauma.

We wish to thank the following organizations for their support and collaboration:
- Child and Family Development Resource Center, Willimantic, CT
- Child First, Inc., Shelton, CT
- Child Health and Development Institute, Farmington, CT
- Connecticut Association for Infant Mental Health, Inc., New Haven, CT
- Connecticut Office of Early Childhood
- Neurosequential Model Network, LLC, and the Child Trauma Academy
We also wish to thank Teresa Surprenant for her consultation on and review of these videos.

Supporting Children Who Have Experienced Trauma

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Acknowledgements