Infant & Early Childhood Trauma (0–4 Years)
Trauma-focused therapy through an infant mental health lens
When a frightening experience continues to affect a baby or young child, understanding the child means looking beyond the behaviour to the experience, their development and the relationships around them.
My clinical work in this area focuses exclusively on trauma in infants and young children aged 0–4 years. I work with families where a potentially traumatic experience may continue to affect a young child’s emotional wellbeing, responses to everyday experiences or relationship with their caregivers.
When early experiences continue to affect a child
Babies and young children can experience frightening or overwhelming events before they have the words to communicate what happened.
These experiences may include:
Traumatic or medically complicated birth
Premature birth or admission to a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU)
Hospitalisation, surgery or repeated medical procedures
Other frightening experiences involving significant fear, pain or threat
You may notice ongoing distress around medical care, particular forms of handling, separation, sleep or other everyday experiences. Your child may seem unusually watchful, difficult to settle or strongly reactive in situations that remind you of what happened.
These behaviours do not automatically indicate trauma. They need to be understood in the context of your child’s development, health, temperament, experiences and relationships.
Understanding trauma before a child has words
Infants and young children communicate through their behaviour, emotional responses, body cues and interactions with the people caring for them.
An infant mental health lens considers the whole picture: what the child has experienced, their developmental stage, how they communicate distress, the environment around them and the relationship between child and caregiver.
Rather than assuming what a preverbal child remembers, I consider whether a potentially traumatic experience may be contributing to their current difficulties and what the child and family may need.
The aim is to understand the child’s experience without interpreting every difficulty as trauma.
This is specific trauma-focused work informed by infant mental health principles, with dyadic EMDR considered where clinically appropriate. I do not provide general child psychology services or therapy for children older than four years.
Why the parent–child relationship matters
In the first years of life, a child depends on their caregivers to help them feel safe, manage distress and make sense of the world.
A frightening experience can affect the child, the parent or both. A parent may still feel frightened by a birth or medical emergency, while their baby continues to show distress around related experiences. Sometimes, the experience affects how safe or settled the family feels together.
This does not mean a parent has caused the child’s difficulties. It recognises that the child’s emotional wellbeing and their caregiving relationships are closely connected.
Where appropriate, therapy involves the parent and child together, supporting an understanding of the child’s cues, responses and needs while addressing the impact of the experience.
What is dyadic EMDR?
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) is a structured psychotherapy used to help process distressing experiences.
Dyadic EMDR involves therapeutic work with a young child and their caregiver together, adapted to the child’s developmental needs and clinical presentation.
For preverbal children, therapy cannot depend on a verbal account of what happened. Assessment and treatment instead require careful attention to the child’s history, behaviour, responses and interactions with their caregiver.
Dyadic EMDR may be considered when a potentially traumatic experience appears to be contributing to ongoing difficulties. Suitability is assessed individually, with attention to the child’s developmental needs, family context and the evidence available to guide treatment.
Is this service right for your family?
This intervention is specifically for families concerned about the ongoing effects of a potentially traumatic experience in a child aged 0–4 years.
Enquiries
If your baby or young child has experienced a frightening birth, medical event or other potentially traumatic experience, and you are concerned about ongoing effects, you are welcome to enquire about an initial assessment.
An assessment can help clarify whether this specialist approach may be suitable for your child and family.