This guest post is by Dr. Alexandra De Young. Alexandra is a clinical psychologist and research fellow. Her expertise lies in the impact of burns trauma on very young children and their parents.  She currently works at the Centre of National Research on Disability and Rehabilitation Medicine (CONROD), University of Queensland, where she conducts research on the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of accidental trauma in children. 

Five key considerations for working with young traumatized children:

1. Young children are a high risk group for exposure to traumatic events

Infants, toddlers, and preschoolers are particularly vulnerable to trauma exposure due to their stage of development.  Young children interact with their environment before they become aware of potential dangers and threat, are strongly reliant on adults to keep them safe and have limited skills to protect themselves.  Continue reading →