December 29, 2012
Advancing Trauma-Informed Practices: Bringing Trauma-Informed, Resilience-Focused Care To Children, Adolescents, Families, Schools & Communities
A White Paper From The National Institute for Trauma & Loss In Children
By:
William Steele, Psy.D. and Caelan Kuban, LMSW
 The purpose of this paper is threefold:
1) To define the primary experience of trauma in order to support trauma-informed care
grounded in evidence-based research, neuroscience and the essential components of
trauma-informed practices,
2) To view trauma not as a diagnostic category but as a series of experiences that result in
survival driven behaviors, thoughts, emotions, sensations and needs unique to traumatized
children which are often misinterpreted and assigned as symptoms of disorders
other than trauma, and
3) To explain the essential importance of understanding the child’s experience, within a
trauma-informed context, in order to guide practitioners in evaluating, identifying and
initiating trauma-informed, developmentally appropriate interventions beneficial to the
unique needs and world of traumatized children and youth.
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