In order to understand trauma, it is only necessary to look around at the world in which our children are growing. In an age when a child can witness violence just by turning on the television, listening to music or logging onto the Internet, it is no longer possible to ignore that our culture of violence affects every family.

But what about children living in high crime neighborhoods? What about children who live with domestic violence, substance abuse or sexual abuse? What about children who live with mental or physical illness or are subject to chronic bullying or school failure? These challenges can rise to the level of chronic traumatic stress.

So how does a child react to chronic traumatic stress?

They develop coping mechanisms, many of which are unhealthy and have a lasting impact on how they understand and respond throughout their lives.

Trauma and chronic traumatic stress interrupt a child’s learning, overriding their higher level reasoning skills at a time when they are just developing. Regardless of the source of the traumatic stress, the outcome is the same. Children develop reasoning and behavior that is illogical and sometimes dangerous.

Understanding how children respond to trauma is the basis for creating a place of sanctuary for children. Creating Sanctuary® is only possible when we understand the nature of both individual and organizational trauma. Everyone in the organization must actively work together to build a community where healing can occur.