Childhood Trauma and Brain Development

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Capella University *

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Psychology

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Feb 20, 2024

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Running head: CHILDHOOD TRAUMA AND BRAIN DEVELOPMENT1 Childhood Trauma and Brain Development Jessica Watts Capella University Human Behavior and the Social Environment 1 03/13/2022

CHILDHOOD TRAUMA AND BRAIN DEVELOPMENT 2 Childhood Trauma and Brain Development 1. Being human means that the individual is a being, a person with behaviors and emotions. Being humane means being kind and not engaging in emotionally damaging behaviors. In some ways, it is easy to compare the work of social workers to humane work. Regardless of the client and their situation, the social worker remains objective and provides merciful respect in navigating conditions and circumstances. Social work is empathetically being there for their clients and providing appropriate resources for healing and growth. Personally, working as a Substance Abuse Disorder Counselor, this field comes with many turnovers. At least every three months, counselors leave, and their caseload gets reassigned, meaning the client has to start all over with a new counselor. Nobody wants to go over their entire life story every three months constantly. It provides the client with a lack of security and feelings of abandonment in some cases. Due to this, it creates barriers when trying to help. The client starts to view themselves as a case or just a number rather than a human being. In my opinion, I find this turnover to be inhumane and damaging. It causes harm to the clients and creates challenging encounters. Client's feel as though their efforts for recovery are a waste when the counselor, they are working with leave often. 2. In the book The Boy Who Was Raised As A Dog, the main idea the author tries to portray is the absolute resilience children have when their world is filled with chaos and trauma. Even though there's trauma, the brain provides room for change with appropriate guidance. These children are capable of healing. Dr. Perry explains how

CHILDHOOD TRAUMA AND BRAIN DEVELOPMENT 3 the brain works during childhood development in detail. He consistently talks about the brain, trauma, and healing the broken pieces of the brain. 3. Dr. Perry colors with his clients because it brings him down to their level. It allows for a shared space of a fun activity with a stranger. It helps build rapport. He will sit on the ground with them, ask them what colors he should use, share crayons with them, and leave space for silence until the child is ready to speak. 4. I believe that the children in the book, The Boy Who Was Raised As A Dog have an opportunity to experience everyday adult life. Providing intervention and allowing room for healing lets many of these children have a good adult life even if it still requires therapy. As a matter of fact, it should be encouraged that these children continue their therapeutic journey when becoming adults. In Laura's story, it is evident that children can heal their trauma with proper treatment. Laura's mother, Virginia, didn't have solid connections or bonds with her caretakers. The foster care system would rotate children into new homes every six months during her time. How is she supposed to adequately take care of her child when she has no idea how that looks? Laura is labeled as a "failure to thrive." Still, with intervention from Dr. Perry, both Laura and Virginia spend time with a foster parent that teaches Virginia ways to parent her child and provide a safe place for Laura to gain weight and grow physically and emotionally. A mother's touch goes a long way for a growing and developing child. 5. In chapter four, she is considered a "failure to thrive." She is four years old and very malnourished. Failure to thrive is universally known as a child not meeting the average weight of the same child their age and gender, so they are deemed failure to

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CHILDHOOD TRAUMA AND BRAIN DEVELOPMENT 4 thrive. It is important to note that Laura was diagnosed at eight weeks old. Virginia wasn't given any parental guidance but somewhat nutritional advice and sent on her way. Laura's diagnosis is directly connected to brain development. The chapter discusses that babies' brains are wired to signal hunger, dehydration, or threatened when in distress. That's why the brain finds pleasure when being nursed, held, changed, or rocked. Human interaction is key to development. Virginias upbringing and her unhealed trauma and attachment issues set her up to fail when bonding with her child and providing those comforts for growth and development. Due to this, Laura experienced hormonal dysregulation that stunted her growth. A reference was made about it also being considered "runt syndrome." Unknowingly to Virginia, she repeated her childhood dysfunction and deprived her child of forming an attachment detrimental to the brain and the physical body development. 6. "Health is determined by several factors including genetic inheritance, personal behaviors, access to quality health care, and the general external environment (such as the quality of air, water, and housing conditions)" (Hernandez, & Blazer, 2006). A good or ideal environment would be where the child is being raised in a loving home, gaining all the developmental milestones successfully, and providing for the child and all their needs. I think cultural differences can hinder having a good environment. Some cultures do not show love and affection. They do not build their children up or believe in different ways to raise their children due to their culture. Economically, this can also impact a good environment. If there's no money in the house to provide children with good nutrition or items to upkeep their growth, it can drastically affect their healthy development.

CHILDHOOD TRAUMA AND BRAIN DEVELOPMENT 5 On the other hand, speaking from personal experience, I own a home, have four children, and like to think I am a decent mother, and yet, my last baby was labeled a "failure to thrive." I was devasted that I would have to stop nursing and feed him formula. I felt very robbed of my last baby experience and ended up needing therapy to cope. Even with the formula, my child still would not eat. It isn't very encouraging to know you are doing everything right, yet nothing feels right. He is now five years old and still considered a failure to thrive but has maintained his own growth chart since three weeks old. It is still something I stress about every single day and analyze myself as a parent. 7. According to the text, Tina could not behave appropriately for her age because she was a victim of molestation by a sixteen-year-old boy who was the babysitter's son. This started when Tina was four years old. In the chapter, there was also talk about her being inappropriate at school and with her siblings. I do not think that Tina is a "lost cause." I feel like with therapy, and she can be on the path to a better understanding of boundaries. Tina exhibited abnormalities in all parts of her brain. The text suggests that Tina has an oversensitive response to her trauma. Dr. Perry worked with Tina for about three years, and there has been no report of any more inappropriate behavior. Unfortunately, she did have an incident around the age of ten, caught with a boy. Dr. Perry describes his disappointment and confusion. Still, Tina can heal and live a fulfilled adult life with continued work and intervention and addressing the trauma. The brain can be re-trained. It may take a lifetime to see changed behaviors, but it is not impossible.

CHILDHOOD TRAUMA AND BRAIN DEVELOPMENT 6 8. I believe Leon's mother is responsible for Leon's decision-making and leads up to the murders. It was noted that Leon was drunk the night of the murders, and they lived in a run-down apartment where substance abuse and drug dealers ran wild. From what I read, when Leon was born, it sounds like he had colic. His mother tried to feed him, and he would continue to cry. Eventually, this led to her laying Leon in his crib to cry and leaving him there while taking her other children for a walk. "Letting babies "cry it out" is a form of need-neglect that leads to many long-term effects. Consequences of the "cry it out" method include: It releases stress hormones, impairs self-regulation, and undermines trust" (Narvaez Ph.D., 2011). Leon's mother was emotionally neglectful to her child's needs, which caused much damage to Leon's brain development. He lacked empathy because his mother has shown non as a child. Dr. Perry was unable to suggest if Leon would still be a threat to society. 9. In chapter six, we meet Justin, the boy who was raised as a dog. He was living with his grandmother, but she died, and he was left with her boyfriend. The boyfriend felt like he couldn't care for Justin and called social services, but they did not receive help. Justin was then treated like a dog and crated like a dog. Justin's brain was small because he wasn't using it to learn anything, and therefore his brain did not grow. Dr. Perry learned that environmental factors could significantly impact a child's development. Justin behaved as if he was an actual dog. Dr. Perry treated him like an animal to gain his trust and provide treatment. 10. The nature versus nurture element is a hard one to address. Both can make an impact on individuals. However, throughout our reading, it appears that the child's upbringing and the nurture aspect are very front and center in many of these

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CHILDHOOD TRAUMA AND BRAIN DEVELOPMENT 7 children's lives. The majority of the children have lacked something from the adult in their life and had declined brain development. In the case of Tina, she was a case of nature (environmental factors) by being exposed to the neighbor's son because her mother had to work. Not necessarily that her mother failed her during childhood, instead she exposed her to an unsafe environment. "Nurture assumes that correlations between environmental factors and psychological outcomes are caused environmentally. However, behavioral genetics argues that what look like environmental effects are to a large extent really a reflection of genetic differences" (McLeod, 2018). 11. Socioeconomic class and race are all critical elements of Dr. Perry's work. I enjoy how open he is to all his cases, regardless of race or economic status. He pays no real mind to that other than to address his client's concerns. It shows that he is a good psychiatrist and does his job of serving the people. 12. RAD is an abbreviation for reactive attachment disorder. This disorder is due to not forming a trusting bond with their caretakers (parental figures), mainly due to neglect or abuse at a young age. These children diagnosed with RAD are emotionally dysregulated and have difficulty controlling their moods and emotions. Some symptoms of RAD include "Not showing positive emotions, like comfort, love or joy when interacting with others. Avoiding eye contact and physical touch. Expressing fear or anger by throwing tantrums or frequently showing unhappiness or sadness. Trying to find things in their environment that they can control, which makes them likely to break rules" (Clinic, 2022).

CHILDHOOD TRAUMA AND BRAIN DEVELOPMENT 8 13. Dr. Perry is very adamant about human interaction so the children and families can thrive. That society needs to show more support and rally around those who are going through trauma. 14. The world we live in is now biologically disrespectful - quote from Dr. Perry. I agree with this. Our society is so engrossed in our phones, computers, social media that it leaves no room to provide those connections with family members the way we should. Holding a child and scrolling through a phone is not the same as holding a child and giving them your undivided attention. Our society has grown disrespectful to the demands of what it takes to set our children up for success biologically.

CHILDHOOD TRAUMA AND BRAIN DEVELOPMENT 9 References Clinic, C. (2022). Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD): Causes, Symptoms & Treatment. Cleveland Clinic. Retrieved 13 March 2022, from https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/17904-reactive-attachment- disorder#:~:text=Reactive%20attachment%20disorder%20(RAD)%20is%20a %20condition%20where%20a%20child,have%20trouble%20managing%20their %20emotions.. Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Assessing Interactions Among Social, Behavioral, and Genetic Factors in Health; Hernandez LM, Blazer DG, editors. Genes, Behavior, and the Social Environment: Moving Beyond the Nature/Nurture Debate. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2006. 2, The Impact of Social and Cultural Environment on Health. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK19924/ Narvaez Ph.D., D. (2011). Dangers of "Crying It Out." Psychology Today. Retrieved 13 March 2022, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/moral-landscapes/201112/dangers- crying-it-out#:~:text=Letting%20babies%20%22cry%20it%20out,%2Dregulation%2C %20and%20undermines%20trust..

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