Addressing Trauma in Early Childhood: (Issue Brief 61 - (CHDI) Child Health and Development Institute of Connecticut, Inc.)

ARC Supports Parents in Helping Young Children Recover from Trauma

Through a five year SAMHSA grant awarded to CHDI as part of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN), the Early Childhood Trauma Collaborative (ECTC) is helping to address this gap by training clinicians to use Attachment, Self-Regulation and Competency (ARC),⁵ an effective treatment for young children who have experienced trauma and their caregivers.

ARC is a behavioral health treatment that supports parents (or other caregivers) to help their children address problems resulting from trauma exposure. ARC accomplishes this by helping parents develop the skills they need to assist their children with addressing the negative effects trauma may have on interacting with others (attachment), managing emotions (self-regulation), and meeting developmental milestones (competency). Involving parents in treatment is important because parents of young children have frequently experienced the same traumatic events as their children (e.g. domestic violence, community violence). ARC can help caregivers develop their own skills and simultaneously assist their children with reducing the negative effects of trauma exposure.

To read the Issue Brief 61, please click here.