In the wake of childhood neglect, abuse and emotional loss it is not the immediate effects but rather the long term distortion of safety.

We are Developmental Trauma Specialists, a 501C3 organization created to support those individuals and families impacted by Developmental Trauma.

You’ve come to the right place.

You have arrived at a community of professionals and trauma parents alike who have been in your very place. We foster growth and resiliency through understanding and accepting without condition; providing support and education to our community so survive becomes thrive.

You are not alone.

What is Developmental Trauma?

Developmental Trauma is caused by neglect and/or abuse early in life. Eighty percent of all child maltreatment is at the hands of children’s own parents. Maltreatment by caregivers embeds “hidden traumas” in these interactions that are neglectful, intrusive, unpredictable, threatening, aggressive, rejecting, or exploitive. These interactions convey that the world is a dangerous, unreliable, and/or indifferent place that offers little or no safety. Given the highly limited capacities of infants and young children to assess risk, this lack of physical or emotional safety quickly rises to the level of a subjective survival threat (annihilation anxiety) even though the objective nature of the event may not actually be at that level.

An attachment disorder is a condition in which individuals have difficulty forming loving, lasting, intimate relationships. The disorders vary in severity, but the term is usually reserved for individuals who show a nearly complete lack of ability to be genuinely affectionate or empathic with others. Without treatment, they typically fail to develop a conscience and do not learn to trust.

Parenting a Traumatized Child

Parenting a child who has been traumatized is not the same as parenting a child who has not experienced trauma. Attempting to use typical parenting skills and techniques will not offer the added support needed to heal the past traumatic wounds.

Symptoms of Developmental Trauma

  • Unable to self-regulate from strong emotional states

  • Rages

  • Disturbances in regulation of bodily functions (sleeping, eating, and elimination)

  • Sensory over or under-reactivity

  • Lack of awareness of or dissociation from sensations, emotions, and bodily states

  • Lack of ability to describe emotions or bodily states

  • Hypervigilant

  • Inappropriate intimacy (physical or emotional)

  • Lack of empathy

  • Reactive physical or verbal aggression

  • Self-harming, risk-taking, and/or thrill-seeking behaviors

  • Maladaptive attempts at self-soothing (e.g., rocking and other rhythmical movements, compulsive masturbation)

  • Habitual (intentional or automatic) or reactive self-harm

  • Inability to initiate or sustain goal-directed behavior

  • Parentified behavior

  • Extreme concern over the safety and well-being of the primary caregiver

  • Persistent negative sense of self

  • Distrust of others