Childhood trauma refers to a frightening, dangerous, threatening, or violent event that a child finds overwhelmingly distressing or emotionally painful and which often results in lasting physical, mental, and emotional effects. Childhood trauma includes experiencing a traumatic event and witnessing a traumatic event that threatens the life or physical security of a loved one; witnessing, rather than experiencing, a traumatic event can result in what is called secondary trauma.
More than 2/3 of children report at least one traumatic event by age 16.
Dr. Carole Myers of the University of Tennessee College of Nursing speaks with Robin Cogan, a Nationally Certified School Nurse (NCSN) currently in her 21st year as a school nurse in the Camden City School District, New Jersey, and Dr. Allyson Neal, Assistant Dean in the University of Tennessee College of Nursing and a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner who specializes in child and adolescent mental and behavioral health.
