The next few blogs will be from guest blogger Lenore Hall, a trauma counselor who has done intensive studies of the effects of trauma on mental health and the neuroscience of trauma and brain development. Please enjoy these fascinating reads:
Neuroscience provides extensive knowledge of how our mind and bodies are shaped by experience, particularly within developing childhood years. Cozolino (2010) stated: “Our brain embodies the environment that shapes it … our neural architecture is the tangible expression of our learning history”. The science is very clear that an environment of secure attachment, physical, emotional and relational safety provide the optimal conditions for children to learn, grow and thrive. This applies not only to our homes but also to care institutions and school environments which play a significant role in a child’s learning history. Yet, with all our knowledge, we live in a time of pandemic proportions of stress, anxiety, and mental health issues.
Stress and anxiety are common companions for children today, evidenced in an increasing prevalence of childhood anxiety disorders (Cohen, 2013). He described anxiety as issues of connection and disconnection which affect the child’s sense of safety in the world.
Connection helps children feel secure, confident and happy. But disconnection is also part of life. We separate from our children to go to work and for them to go to school. Disconnection also occurs, more painfully, when we are angry with our children, when they are angry with us, when they are scared or when they feel alone. Disconnection is at the heart of many behavior problems. We often respond to “bad behavior” with isolation, time-outs, humiliation, threats, yelling or withdrawal of love. These responses create even more disconnection, which is why they don’t work (xviii).
Connection and disconnection also apply within neuroscience, its first principle being: neurons connect. Neuronal disconnection results in dementia! Within ‘normal’ development, a sense of safety and secure attachment promotes neuronal connections that build patterns of approach, evidenced in security and open-ness to explore the world and connect with others. Relational trauma, not only obvious abuse, but also painful and unresolved relational disconnection, changes neuronal connections. This can lead to avoidance tendencies and hypervigilance, the brain in a state of high alert which result in patterns of avoidance, which impact the child’s ability to learn, grow and thrive.
*Image provided from Oceanlake Elementary School website.
