Developmentally Informed Trauma Practices in Early Childhood

Traumatic experiences in childhood can have long-term impacts on a child’s outcomes and overall well-being. Developmentally Informed Trauma Practices (DITP) from WestEd helps infant–family and early childhood workforces develop an increased understanding of the risks and impact of trauma on infants, toddlers, young children, and their families with strategies they can use to better serve them. 

How We Help

Infants, toddlers, young children, and their families need support from programs with providers who understand Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and their impacts. 

DITP from WestEd addresses this challenge by supporting the infant–family and early childhood workforce to be 

• Informed about trauma, including its effects, risk, and resilience 
• Aware and sensitive to those effects 
• Equipped with the skills and knowledge to offer responsive programs for children impacted by trauma in any form from prenatal through 8 years old  

WestEd offers full-day (or two half-day) trainings. These are followed by facilitated Communities of Practice that support the application of learning for sustainable change in practice over time. 

Training can be customized for different contexts and audiences. There are 7 available modules with topics including: 

• Introduction to DITP 
• Strategies to Support Children Who Have Experienced Trauma 
• Engaging and Supporting Families Who Have Experienced Trauma 
• Self-Care in the Context of Trauma Informed Practices 
• Reflective Practice in the Context of Trauma-Informed Practices 
• Race and Equity in the Context of Trauma-Informed Practices 
• Using the Behavioral Assessment of Baby’s Emotional and Social Style (BABES) Toolkit for Assessment and Intervention Planning 

• Onsite

Who Will Benefit

• Infant–Family and Early Childhood Mental Health and Intervention providers and practitioners 
• Early childhood professionals 
• Early learning and care program administrators, teachers, and staff 
• Child care providers, staff, and administrators 
• Early Head Start/Head Start staff 
• Teachers 
• School and district administrators 

Connecting Research With Practice

Infant–family and early childhood mental health is an interdisciplinary field that focuses on the social–emotional development and well-being of infants and young children within the context of their early relationships, family, community, and culture.  

Our professional development is tailored to the needs of the early childhood community based on current evidence and emerging practices in neuroscience, infant mental health, attachment, and prenatal and perinatal psychology and health. 

Research shows that many life-enhancing or life-diminishing patterns originate in the prenatal and perinatal periods. The best outcomes occur when families are supported in their mental and physical well-being throughout pregnancy, birth, infancy, and early childhood through positive interventions, including infant–family and early childhood mental health services that promote healthy development by strengthening foundational early relationships, family functioning, and the young child’s emotional regulation and social competence.