Zoe Sinclair
June 29, 2026
A child’s experience is traumatic if it is frightening or disturbing, or both, and there is nowhere safe to go or it feels out of the child’s control. Per this overview of child traumatic stress, by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, “Traumatic stress occurs when a child experiences a stressful event or situation that overwhelms a child’s ability to cope. Stress can be caused by a multitude of experiences that leave a person feeling threatened, fearful or unsafe.” Whether it is a difficult test, a fight with a friend or even breaking a favorite toy, children often feel these things acutely but with support can often process these feelings. Those experiences, however, would rarely be described as traumatic childhood. A traumatic event, on the other hand, can leave a person’s nervous system more on alert and easier to stress out.
Children who experience the same event may have quite different responses. Circumstances matter as well as a child’s age, temperament and other past adversities. What happens afterwards matters too, the resources at hand and who helps the child feel safe. Childhood trauma can include violence and abuse, sudden loss or fears around what is happening at home. Understanding childhood trauma involves asking what happened, how the child experienced it, who was there and who was there to care.