Trauma

I am ten pages in to Dan Hughes's book Building the Bonds of Attachment and I can already tell that it's going to be a very useful read. It's not the first time I've come across his description of 'developemental trauma', but as with so many things, re-reading it with fresh eyes (or rather pretty tired and jaded eyes!) now that we've had the best part of a year to get to know our children brought home to me how much it currently applies to one of the little people in our care; so much so that I made my partner stop what she was doing and listen while I read it aloud.

I've read a few things lately - in other blog posts or on various Facebook groups I follow - about attachment and how attachment difficulties are often (mis)used as a catch-all term to explain away any and all problems adopted children face, when in fact attachment problems are a symptom of the wider difficulty of developmental trauma rather than being a cause in their own right. I couldn't agree more, and the description of developmental trauma with which Dan Hughes begins his book is providing me with a really useful framework to organise my thoughts in this regard.

As well as attachment difficulties, Hughes describes problems in the following six areas:
  • Biology and attuning to the body's various physiological states 
  • Affect regulation - i.e. identifying, regulating and expressing emotions 
  • Dissociation - the ability to stay psychologically present, open and engaged
  • Behaviour control - I don't think this one needs further explanation!
  • Cognition - including sensory integration, problem solving and attentional abilities, which are the big three in our house at the moment
  • Self-concept - the sense of self as being continuous and worthy of care.
All seven areas tick boxes as far as Little and her needs are concerned - some more problematic than others, but all worthy of attention and support. Interestingly, the only person who has really engaged with the term 'trauma' in a big way in relation to Little is a therapeutic professional who is working with her through school; something that has been set up independently of the post-adoption support assessment that we have tried to access, and contrary to the judgement of the post-adoption support professional we saw, who classed her needs as 'settling in'. I feel that there has generally been a lack of understanding of trauma by our children's placing authority with various needs which fit very neatly into the above definition being misconstrued. The fact that she would hurt herself (accidentally) and not cry, for example, was viewed as her being 'no trouble' rather than being a red flag about her difficulty at attuning to pain - something which she's made huge strides forward on lately thanks to the various therapeutic parenting strategies we've been able to learn and employ. So I look forward to reading the rest of the book and hopefully learning how to parent in a more trauma-informed way, as well as being better able to advocate for Little when it comes to get her needs met and setting her up as well as possible for the challenges which lie ahead.

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