Content transcription
The complex or developmental trauma.
In this podcast, I will introduce you to the notion of complex trauma, or developmental trauma. You will find more information on this subject by visiting capsuletrauma.com.
The notion of complex or developmental trauma is the result of a large number of scientific research studies, aims to describe specific traumatic experiences of abuse or neglect. It describes also their consequences on different domains of child development. These consequences go beyond the diagnostic criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) described in the DSM-V.
Complex trauma in childhood is the result of repetitive durable and negative interpersonal experiences.
Those negative experiences are often involving betrayal, because they happen with persons responsible for care, protection or supervision of the victim, in other words with persons important to the victim. Complex trauma includes psychological, physical or sexual abuse, neglect or abandonment. Abused children feel in danger for a long time, and the fear and suffering can last for years, says Delphine Collin-Vézina on capsuletrauma.com.
Those negative experiences also occur from early childhood to adolescence, which are periods of developmental vulnerability, resulting in significant damages in seven areas.
They will influence the developmental trajectory of these young people for life.
Attachment is the first developmental domain affected by complex trauma. Here, the author of the child’s suffering is the caregiver, so the child will form an insecure or even disorganised attachment: either avoiding, or ambivalent resistant, or disorganised. According to Van Ijzendoorn & al. (in 1999) this third category represents eighty-six% of abused children. There, those children can not develop a strategy to call for help in case of distress. Their relational patterns are confused, alternating between hostility, powerlessness and dissociation.
Children victims of complex trauma have also great difficulties building their identity and a strong self-concept. Children build their self-concept through the attachment relationship that they experience with their caregiver. In the case of abuse by the caregivers, chidren can not feel worthy of being loved, and develop guilt, self-shame and low self-esteem.
On the biological level, the neuronal stress response system is too often overloaded,, which will affect the cortical brain development. This will also affect the functioning of the hippocampus and the sensory thalamus, leading to memory disorders and dysregulation of affect.
Thus, children will have difficulties to regulate their affects, which is the fourth area damaged by the complex trauma. Abused chidren will find hard to identify, to discriminate, to modulate or to communicate their emotions, or other people emotions. They will feel emotions much more strongly than children who have learned to regulate their affects in a secure attachment relationship. Or, on the contrary, they will hardly be able to connect to their feelings and to become aware of them.
Dissociation is sometimes the only way to escape a traumatic situation that overwhelm the child’s ability to adapt. It is a child’s disconnection from reality, like dissociation between thought and affect, emotion and cognition, or body and consciousness. This can sometimes continue long after violence has ended, and therefore have an impact on learning and social relationships.
Behavioural control is sometimes excessive, because it is the only way to regain control to face overwhelming feelings. It can be also under-regulated, because of a lack of learning about this regulation within a caring attachment relationship, added to cortical brain development damages. It would be children who “act” their emotions, like self-mutilation, or violent behavior, when they can not express them in words, says Delphine Collin-Vézina.
Cognitive development is also restricted by complex trauma, especially executive functions and problem solving. The resources of these chidren are mobilised through survival and stress response, making them unavailable for learning and hindering the development of these higher cognitive functions.
The distinction between PTSD and complex trauma allows us to better understand abused chidren needs, and to offer care adapted to those needs.
Thank you for listening !