The Children’s Corner
disparate theories of human development
coalesce, new approaches have emerged
to help the children who are subjected to
these traumas.
Our new understandings are grouped
under the related headings of “developmental trauma” and “polyvictimization.”6
They bring under one conceptual roof the
cumulative effects of multiple, ongoing,
continuous, persistent traumas that dominate the early years of some children’s
lives. They force us to recognize that these
cumulated effects form a single whole that
is different in kind from the separate effects of its individual components. The new
framework forces us to “de-silo” the multiple approaches we have used in the past
to analyze and respond to the trauma affecting our young children. It allows us to
mobilize all of the disciplines and resources
available to us in the struggle to help children navigate the traumatic maze they face
every day.
Here are some characteristics of “trauma” and its effects in H