New guidebook helps child-care providers understand how trauma affects very young children’s development and ways to support healing.
Trauma-Sensitive Care for Infants, Toddlers, and Two-Year-Olds shows child-care providers how to create nurturing environments for the children in their care. Written by Barbara Sorrels, Ed.D., founder and C.E.O. of Connected Kids, an organization providing training and consultation in trauma-responsive practices, this book offers research and experience-based information to show child-care providers how to create nurturing environments for the children in their care.
“What our infants and toddlers need to recover and develop resilience in the face of adversity is the highest quality of nurture that we can give,” says Sorrels, who is a former professor in the early childhood education program at Oklahoma State University and has more than 20 years of early child-care experience. “Children from hard places need an invested caregiver who has the capacity to be fully present, share their calm and playfully engage.”
The book gives caregivers of the very youngest children insight into how to create safe trauma-responsive spaces that encourage play and trust and help harmed little ones begin develop autonomy and self-regulation. With tips on using rhythm, predictable routines, and connectedness, the book offers support for not only the children but also the caregivers and children’s families.
“Even very young infants are aware of the emotional tone of the child-care environment that is communicated through caregivers,” explains Sorrels. “The adults in the classroom are the key to a safe environment. Without safe caregivers who can effectively communicate a sense of felt safety to infants and toddlers, there will be no safety from the perception of the children.”
Trauma-Sensitive Care for Infants, Toddlers, and Two-Year-Olds (ISBN 978-0-87659-918-1, PB; 978-0-87659-919-8, ebook; 224 pp.; $44.95) by Barbara Sorrels, will be available December 1, 2022, and is available for preorder now. Digital review copies may be requested through Edelweiss.
