The Impacts of Trauma
Trauma from child abuse can have a profound effect on kids and impact their day-to-day functioning. Trauma can make it difficult for a child to thrive in school, forge friendships, and feel safe and happy. That’s why it’s important to prevent abuse from happening.
Impacts of Trauma
Shame. Survivors can feel overwhelming, debilitating shame. This shame may be triggered by the smallest failures.
Loss of physical connection to body. Survivors of physical and sexual abuse can have a hard time being in their body.
Dissociation. In the midst of abuse, kids often disconnect their consciousness from what is happening to their body. This can continue whenever they feel overwhelmed.
Loss of danger cues. Kids struggle to recognize dangerous situations after perceiving abuse as “normal.”
Loss of self-worth. Trauma survivors may think of themselves as outcasts and unworthy of love.
No sense of self. Parents or caregivers play an important role in helping a child understand their identity. If the abuser is a parent or caregiver, then a child’s sense of self can feel undeveloped or phony.
Loss of safety. For trauma survivors, the world feels more dangerous, where anything bad can happen.
Loss of trust. Kids are especially unwilling to trust others if the abuse was a family member or close family friend.
Learn more at echotraining.org/the-impact-of-trauma