By U.C. Berkeley The term “trauma” can mean different things, depending on the context. Semantically, trauma refers to an experience or event; nevertheless, people use the term interchangeably to refer to either a traumatic experience or […]
By Dana Bash and Abbie Sharpe, CNN
Warsaw, Poland (CNN)Eight-year-old Yana was going to gymnastics class six days a week at home near Odessa, Ukraine.
Now, she can only practice by herself on a patch of open […]
By Mary Kekatos
As the Russian invasion of Ukraine intensifies, children are experiencing devastating consequences of being caught up in the war zone.
At least seven children have been killed, according to United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and several more have been injured during air strikes and blasts. Read […]
By Mira Miller
When Texas Governor Greg Abbott penned a letter directing state officials to investigate healthcare providers or parents who help transgender youth receive gender-affirming care, some believed his order would be ignored. But as of this week, the […]
By Ivy Kwong, LMFT
Humans have survived for thousands of years by evolving the ability to adapt. If you live with chronic stress or have lived through a traumatic event, certain responses activate to help you survive—these are known as trauma responses.
Although these responses are […]
By Caroline Miller
When kids have behavior and attention issues in school, the first explanation that comes to mind is often ADHD. But exposure to trauma can also cause symptoms that look like ADHD. And trauma is often overlooked when kids are misdiagnosed with ADHD.
Children with ADHD can be fidgety (always getting out […]
By Gary G. Abud, Jr.
As humans, we are hard-wired for connection with each other. When we face challenging life situations, we often seek out and lean on others. Relationships are our human cell phone signals. In The Power of the Other, Dr. Henry Cloud compares our strong desire to […]
By Alyson Klein
There’s been a quieter, parallel pandemic happening alongside COVID-19: a spike in significant mental health problems among young people, spurred by isolation, uncertainty, fear, and grief.
Mental health emergency visits among children are on the rise. Between March and October of 2020, they increased 24 percent for children ages […]
Data from the most recent National Survey of Adolescents and other studies indicate that one in four children and adolescents in the United States experiences at least one potentially traumatic event before the age of 162, and more than 13% of 17-year-olds—one in eight—have experienced posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at some point in […]
Twenty years ago, Hami Torres fled Mexico at age 13, her 11-year-old brother in tow. Terrified, they trekked for hours with a group of older strangers through desert scrub that slashed Hami’s bare legs bloody. Then the two children were folded into the spare-tire compartment of a car for the drive across the […]
