Attachment and Trauma Informed Approaches
Trauma informed, relationship-based, and attachment aware approaches recognise that a child’s behaviours can be governed by developmental disruption and subconscious feelings and emotions which may arise from experiences of early trauma or loss. They consider that children may not have the inner resources to be able to process and digest their troubled feelings fully and that these may be expressed in difficult or dangerous behaviour at times.
Early years settings, schools and education providers that are trauma informed recognise that these children may be at a younger developmental stage than their peers and may not be able to self-regulate or relate to others in ways that would normally be expected. Trauma informed approaches also recognise that punishment and shame do not create positive behaviour changes in the child. Instead, they place relationships and ensuring the felt safety of the child at the heart of their provision ensuring nurture, warmth, empathy and guidance is always available.
All young people require consistent boundaries, expectations and to learn that their actions have consequences. Maintaining clear boundaries and expectations regarding behaviour is important. A trauma informed approach ensures this is alongside the connection, empathy and co-regulation provided by trusted adults that enables problem solving and learning to occur from challenging situations, so that the environment is high in both nurture, structure and guidance.
All schools/education settings in Central Bedfordshire have access to Therapeutic Thinking, An Introduction to Attachment Awareness, Emotion Coaching and Five to Thrive training to help them become Attachment and Trauma informed.