The Birth Parent Subcommittee of the National Child
Traumatic Stress Network has created a series of fact sheets to
highlight the importance of understanding the serious consequences that trauma
histories can have on birth parents, and the subsequent impact on their
parenting.
How can trauma impact parenting?
•
Parents’ ability to make appraise
danger and make appropriate judgments about their own/their child’s safety can
be compromised -- risk of being over/under-protective
•
Parent might have difficulty
forming and maintaining secure trusting relationships -- leading to disconnection and/or disruption in
their children's lives
•
Parent might personalize the
child’s negative behavior -- resulting in ineffective or inappropriate discipline.
•
Lack of ability to regulate emotion
•
Maladaptive coping strategies -- such
as substance abuse or abusive intimate relationships that
parents maintain because of a real or perceived lack of alternatives.
Direct link to this resource: http://nctsn.org/sites/default/files/assets/pdfs/birth_parents_trauma_history_fact_sheet_final.pdf
