Caring for Kids from Hard Places: How to Help Children and Teens with a Traumatic Past

Why doesn’t he act his age? Why does she behave so impulsively? Why does he have meltdowns so often?
There is always meaning behind behavior in all of us. It might be a behavioral reaction from something as simple as hunger or exhaustion. Or something far more serious – a triggered reaction to a traumatic, frightening experience.

Children who have experienced early childhood neglect or trauma are often greatly impacted in developmental ways. Children in foster care or who are given up for ado...