Have More Babies

Understanding Childhood Trauma And How To Heal

• Michael Nwaneri, MD • Season 1 • Episode 270

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The numbers are hard to ignore: half of U.S. children experience at least one adverse childhood experience, and one in four meet criteria for severe trauma. We pull the lens back on what trauma really is—a physiological and emotional response, not just a headline event—and show how chronic stress reshapes the brain, body, and behavior. From the amygdala on high alert to working memory under siege, we connect the science to what you actually see at home and in the classroom.

Together we unpack four major sources of harm: abuse, neglect, household dysfunction, and community-level threats like violence and disasters. You’ll hear how attachment injuries ripple into trust, intimacy, and adult relationships; why “defiance” is often a survival strategy; and how poor grades can be an early red flag for unaddressed stress. Then we shift to hope that’s grounded in evidence. We break down trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy, explain why play therapy unlocks healing for younger kids, and outline practical coping skills that calm a revved-up nervous system.

Healing doesn’t happen in isolation, so we share the blueprint for trauma-informed schools—predictable routines, staff training, restorative responses—and make the case for engaging parents with coaching and mental health support. When therapists, teachers, and caregivers work from the same playbook, kids experience the consistency their brains need to learn and thrive. We close by reframing symptoms as early biological warning signs and argue that investing in mental health is a smart bet on our collective future. If this conversation resonates, subscribe, share it with someone who cares for kids, and leave a review to help others find informed, compassionate guidance.

Visit the blog: https://www.omegapediatrics.com/prevalence-of-childhood-trauma/

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Stella:

Welcome to Have More Babies, the show where we take your sources, all the dense articles and research, and give you that knowledge shortcut you need.

Matthew:

Today we're uh getting into a topic that is, I mean, it's just so much more common than I think any of us realize.

Stella:

Yeah.

Matthew:

We're talking about childhood trauma in the United States, its impact, the numbers, and you know, what it really means for public health.

Stella:

Aaron Powell It's a heavy subject for sure, but our mission today, based on the material, is really specific. We want to define what trauma actually is, look at the prevalence, because the numbers are uh truly staggering, and then really get into the consequences.

Matthew:

Aaron Powell And the healing. That's the crucial part.

Stella:

Exactly. The pathways to building resilience. Because this isn't just about the problem, it's about the solutions.

Matthew:

Right. We have to start with the most basic question. What are we even defining as trauma here? Because I think what most people imagine isn't the full picture.

Stella:

Aaron Powell Okay, let's unpack this. The sources seem to go way beyond just a single big bad event.

Matthew:

Aaron Powell They do. Trauma is defined as a psychological and emotional response to an event or an experience that's deeply distressing.

Stella:

Aaron Powell A response. It's not the event itself.

Matthew:

Aaron Powell Exactly. It's the fallout inside. It's how the nervous system reacts and adapts to feeling totally overwhelmed and unsafe. It becomes a persistent state.

Stella:

Aaron Powell And that state that can show up in a lot of different ways, I'm guessing.

Matthew:

Oh, absolutely. If that distress isn't processed, it starts to bleed into daily life. Clinically, you'll often see it as anxiety, depression, and of course the one everyone knows PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

Stella:

With the flashbacks and nightmares.

Matthew:

Right. And this brings us to the prevalence data. Because with that broader definition, the numbers, they're just impossible to ignore.

Stella:

This is the part that I think really shocks people. We think of this as something rare, you know, something that happens to other families.

Matthew:

But it's not. The data gives us a really startling picture. When we look at what are called adverse childhood experiences or ACs, these are the events that can lead to trauma. The research shows that nearly half of all children in the U.S. 50% have experienced at least one form of ACE.

Stella:

Aaron Powell 50%. So one out of every two kids in this country has lived through abuse or neglect or serious domestic violence. I mean, think about a classroom. Half the students.

Matthew:

Aaron Powell And that's just the ACE data. If we narrow it down to kids who meet the criteria for having experienced a form of severe trauma where that distress response is confirmed, the number is still around 25%.

Stella:

Aaron Powell One in four.

Matthew:

One in four.

Stella:

Wow. And that just underscores why getting in there early with intervention is so critical. We're talking about a massive number of kids.

Matthew:

A massive number. And the experiences themselves are just as varied. It's not one single story.

Stella:

Aaron Powell And this is where it gets really interesting because trauma isn't a monolith, right? The sources break it down into these different categories.

Matthew:

Yeah, they do. We can start with the most direct forms of harm: abuse and neglect. So abuse can be physical hitting, burning, that kind of thing, sexual abuse, and very importantly, emotional abuse.

Stella:

Aaron Powell, which has to be the hardest one to see from the outside.

Matthew:

Aaron Powell It's so insidious. Emotional abuse is that constant criticism, humiliation, rejection. It's behavior that just chips away at a child's sense of self-worth. You know, physical wounds heal, but those invisible wounds, they could be the deepest. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

Stella:

And then there's neglect, which is more about what didn't happen.

Matthew:

Aaron Powell That's a great way to put it. It's a trauma of omission, the failure to provide basic needs, food, shelter, medical care. And the impact there is often what's called an attachment injury. A child who doesn't have a reliable caregiver has trouble forming secure relationships for the rest of their life.

Stella:

Aaron Powell Okay, that leads right into this next category, which feels huge: household dysfunction. This sounds like the kind of chronic ongoing stress so many people face.

Matthew:

Aaron Powell It is a huge category, and it's often about that chronic, low grade or high grade trauma. We're talking about parental substance abuse, severe mental illness, witnessing domestic violence, a really messy high conflict divorce.

Stella:

So the trauma there is the instability itself, the not knowing.

Matthew:

Exactly. A child in that home is always on high alert. Their brain is basically wired for survival, not for learning, not for thriving. And then you have the external events.

Stella:

Things totally outside the family.

Matthew:

Right. Natural disasters, hurricanes, wildfires, and community violence, like exposure to gangs or bullying or gun violence. It really shows how a child's safety can just come down to their zip code.

Stella:

So when you lay out all four of those categories, you can see how the numbers get so high. But let's pivot to the real cost. What's fascinating here is how this isn't just in the mind, it literally imprints on a child's development.

Matthew:

That is the absolute key takeaway from the research. It affects emotional, cognitive, and physical development. It changes the brain's architecture during these incredibly critical periods of growth.

Stella:

We hear that phrase, the body keeps the score. How does that actually happen? How does stress physically change a child?

Matthew:

Well, when a child is exposed to that constant, unpredictable stress, their nervous system gets stuck on high alert. They're overproducing stress hormones like cortisol. And over time, that can literally damage the parts of the brain responsible for emotion, for memory, for decision making. They are absolutely real. That constant fight or flight response leads to chronic headaches, stomach problems, trouble sleeping. It even suppresses the immune system. These are not minor complaints to be dismissed.

Stella:

And how does that hypervigilant state translate into how a kid acts?

Matthew:

Well, if your brain is always scanning for threats, it doesn't have much energy left for complex social stuff. So you see more aggression, more impulsivity. And long term, these kids are at a much higher risk for substance abuse, trying to self-medicate that constant internal alarm.

Stella:

And in school, I imagine it's just devastating for learning.

Matthew:

It's a profound roadblock. How can you focus on history or math if your working memory is occupied with just trying to stay safe? Poor academic performance is one of the most common and overlooked signs of unaddressed trauma.

Stella:

Aaron Powell And then relationships. If a child has that attachment injury we talked about, how does that play out later in life?

Matthew:

It creates huge challenges. They can struggle with trust, fear abandonment, or they might even recreate those same unstable dynamics in their own adult relationships. It just continues the cycle.

Stella:

So when you connect all of that, the physical, the cognitive, the relational damage back to that one in four number, I mean the scale of the problem is just immense.

Matthew:

It is. But and this is a really important fund, the sources are also very clear about resilience.

Stella:

Aaron Powell Right. Children are, I think the quote was, remarkably resilient with the right support. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

Matthew:

They are. If we connect this to the bigger picture, the pathways for healing are actually really well defined. It takes a coordinated effort, but we know what works.

Stella:

Aaron Powell So what are those evidence-based strategies? Where do we start?

Matthew:

You start with targeted therapeutic interventions. One of the most effective is called trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy, or TFCBT.

Stella:

And what does that look like? It's not just talk therapy, is it?

Matthew:

No, it's very structured. It helps kids reframe unhealthy thoughts about their trauma-like moving from it was my fault to I was a child and I was not safe. It also teaches them concrete coping skills to manage their fear and their memories.

Stella:

And for younger kids.

Matthew:

For little kids who don't have the words, things like play therapy are essential. It lets them process these huge experiences in a way that makes sense to them.

Stella:

So therapy is the foundation.

Matthew:

Yeah.

Stella:

But the child's environment has to support that healing, right?

Matthew:

100%. That's the second pillar. Supportive environments. A kid can't heal in isolation. They need a network of caring adults at school in the community who get it.

Stella:

This is where schools become so critical. They're on the front lines.

Matthew:

They are absolutely vital. This means training teachers to recognize the signs of trauma, which can look like defiance or ADHD, and then implementing what we call trauma-informed practices.

Stella:

So moving away from punishment and more toward understanding.

Matthew:

Exactly. Understanding the function of the behavior, creating a safe, predictable classroom can be an incredibly powerful antidote to chaos at home.

Stella:

And the final piece has to be the parents.

Matthew:

Engaging parents is non-negotiable. Often, the parents need support themselves, whether it's through parenting programs or help with their own mental health. The goal is to get everyone, therapists, teachers, parents, all working together from the same playbook.

Stella:

So what does this all mean? Our deep dive really shows that childhood trauma isn't some fringe issue. It's incredibly common, affecting at least a quarter of American kids. Its impact is total body, brain, relationships. But, and this is the hopeful part, the paths to healing are clear and they work.

Matthew:

And I think a powerful final thought here, building on what we talked about, is this. We need to start seeing them for what they often are. Early biological warning signs that something is wrong. Investing in mental health isn't just social spending, it is a critical investment in the future of our entire society.

Stella:

That reframing is so important. And for you, our listener, if you want to dive deeper into these strategies and find resources on pediatric health, we strongly encourage you to visit omegapediatrics.com.

Matthew:

It's a fantastic resource for the kind of actionable, trauma informed practices we've been discussing.

Stella:

If you found this useful, please take a second to sign it, like the video, subscribe to the channel, and share this deep dive with anyone who needs a shortcut to being well informed.

Matthew:

Thank you for joining us for this really important conversation.

Stella:

We'll see you next time.

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Michael Nwaneri, MD

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