FAQs

Trauma-informed care is an approach, not a technique. It is a way of seeing children and responding to them that takes into account what they may have lived through and how it affects them now. The core shift is from asking “What is wrong with this child?” to asking “What happened, and what does this child need right now?” That single shift changes how you read behaviour, what you prioritise, and what you do in difficult moments. It means seeing behaviour as communication and responding with understanding rather than punishment.

In practice, the order of things changes. Before any correction, the child’s safety and regulation come first. Before any consequence, the relationship comes first. None of this means ignoring behaviour. It means meeting it differently, with the understanding that punishment delivered to a dysregulated child does not teach the lesson the adult intended. Trauma-informed care rests on several guiding principles that work together, including safety, trust and consistency, connection before correction, choice and empowerment, and cultural safety.

Source: CFS Trauma-Informed Practice Notes