The awareness of trauma and its impact has grown in recent years. And as our understanding deepens, more experts are shifting their perspectives on the treatment of childhood trauma.
In a very informative series, special correspondent Cat Wise and producer Rachel Wellford from the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) explore childhood trauma. The series is called “Invisible Scars: America’s Childhood Trauma Crisis.”
Throughout the series, they discuss how childhood trauma affects American’s throughout the nation. And in the episode I linked below for you to watch, they dive into the solutions that are best available to handle this crisis.
In this episode, Eamani Williams a victim of trauma herself explains how her traumas affect her even now, and how she was nervous about having children because she was afraid that she wouldn’t be able to handle the task and properly bond with her child.
When asked, “Was it tough being a new mom?” she responds, “Honestly, it was. That pregnancy wasn’t planned. I didn’t know what to do, like how to bond with him.”
And research shows that early bonding and positive interactions with parents and caregivers is extremely important in showing children how to cope with trauma in their life.
Eamani goes to a local clinic that helps her to cope with her past trauma, while also helping her children. The program she is in is called HealthySteps and gives her access to childhood trauma experts like Bernadette McDaniel.
Bernadette coaches parents on how to deal with the emotional scars they carry from their traumatic past, so they can be the best parents they can be.
And Eamani says that the treatment she has received has been immensely helpful. “When I get, like, my depression episodes, I try not to be depressed in front of them because they’re like a mirror. So I try to just not show it around them, at least try to just be the happy mom.”
Bernadette believes the treatment is paying off as well because the stresses from Eamani’s childhood don’t seem to be impacting the children.
Cat Wise says that around 60 percent of U.S. adults have had at least one traumatic experience in their childhood that continues to affect them. And while not all of them are likely to need treatment, some do, and treatments like this can prove beneficial for ending the generational curse of childhood trauma.
While I could go on and on about this all day- I highly suggest watching the full series, especially if you have a childhood trauma that weighs on you. The emotional scars that come with our trauma are much larger than we may often realize, and doing whatever we can to cope with them now and stop the cycle of pain can honestly change our lives entirely, for the better.