Zoe Sinclair
June 29, 2026
Before they can fully articulate their experiences, a child may manifest their experiences through behaviors. For instance, your child may experience nightmares, new fears, bedwetting, clinginess, irritability, aggression, social withdrawal, headaches, stomachaches, and/or inability to focus. If your child is an adolescent or older, he or she may be sleeping far more or less than usual, have less of an interest in school or other activities, begin engaging in riskier behavior, or have an extreme reaction to feedback (including correction). These are not definitive signs your child or teen has been traumatized, but certainly are signs your child may benefit from additional help.
Your child may find it difficult to self-regulate. Your child may experience frequent emotional outbursts in the face of routine changes or may become dysregulated or “switched off” after hitting a hard trigger. Some children appear to be on high alert for most of the day, while other children may struggle to self-soothe and return to baseline after a difficult day. The SAMHSA child trauma information page suggests that child traumatic stress can negatively influence children’s development, emotional state, cognition, and behavior. The adults in a child’s environment are the ones who teach children how to self-regulate emotions, responses, and physical reactions. Your consistency and steady presence can model a healthier way of handling stress and may help recondition their responses to stress over time.
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