Category Archives: trauma informed

Why does my child smile when I am angry?

Smiling when you are angry is not necessarily a sign that the child or young person in your care is feeling self-satisfied and smug. Many children and young people who are recovering from a tough start to life due to abuse and neglect are unsettled by heightened emotion in adults. For them, it is associated with something bad happening. Continue reading

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Why do my kids destroy their belongings?

Destruction of their clothes, toys and other belongings is not necessarily a sign of ingratitude or disrespect. Many children who are recovering from a tough start to life due to abuse and neglect are mistrustful of receiving nice things and … Continue reading

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Attentional factors and attachment security

We all live our life moving between two worlds. In one world, we experience ourselves, others, and our world in a positive way. We notice more of the good things when we are there. In the other world, we experience … Continue reading

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What is the distinctive atmosphere or quality that you project in your role?

A quick Google search reveals that aura can be defined as the distinctive atmosphere or quality that seems to surround and be generated by a person, thing, or place (Oxford Languages). In my work, I am particularly interested in the … Continue reading

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Supporting Strong Developmental Outcomes: The case for CARE and Attachment Security

Raising children who have the best chance of achieving their potential involves connection with our task. It involves parenting with intention; thinking about what we are doing, and why. It involves holding the child in our mind; especially their experiences … Continue reading

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More than a spare room: What kids really need from foster carers

I have been thinking about what children and young people who cannot be safely cared for at home need from their foster carers. I want readers to adopt a broad definition of foster for the purposes of this post, including … Continue reading

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A Short Introduction to Attachment and Resilience

I have maintained this blog site or more than ten years. This will be the 250th post published to it. Given the sheer volume of content I have decided to make a post with links to the posts that I … Continue reading

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Is your service trauma-aware, trauma-responsive, or trauma-informed?

Borrowing from ideas underpinning culturally safety in service provision, where a distinction exists between being culturally aware, culturally responsive, and culturally safe, there is worth in distinguishing what is trauma-informed practice, as opposed to trauma aware and responsive. Culturally safe … Continue reading

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Trauma-informed training for foster, adoptive, and kinship carers

This morning I read an interesting narrative review of fifteen evaluation studies of trauma-informed care training for foster and adoptive parents (and kinship carers): Lotty, M, Bantry-White, E, & Dunn-Galvin, A, (2021) Trauma-informed care psychoeducational group-based interventions for foster carers … Continue reading

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A common knowledge, language, and approach for parents, professionals, and organisations: The CARE Curriculum

The CARE Curriculum offers a comprehensive approach to the delivery of culturally-sensitive, trauma-informed and -responsive services among families recovering from adverse life and family circumstances, via the delivery of enriched CARE. Continue reading

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