Trauma

Defining a Traumatic Event:

What is a traumatic event?

• A traumatic event is a frightening, dangerous, or violent event that poses a threat to a child’s life or bodily integrity. Witnessing a traumatic event that threatens life or physical security of a loved one can also be traumatic. This is particularly important for young children as their sense of safety depends on their perceived safety of attachment figures. (https://www.nctsn.org/what-is-child-trauma/about-child-traum Links to an external site.)

• Traumatic events are also defined as the experiencing or witnessing of events in which there is actual or threatened "death, serious injury, or violence" (American Psychiatric Association, 2017, p. 271).