Parents and caregivers play an essential role in helping children and teenagers recover from traumatic events. These resources are for parents, adoptive parents, resource/foster parents, grandparents, caregivers, and all others who care for children and teens. The more caregivers learn about how traumatic events affect their children (whether toddler, school-age, teen, youth, or adult), the more they understand the reasons for their children’s behaviors and emotions, and the better prepared they are to help them cope. When children know that caring adults are working to keep them safe and support them in understanding their reactions to trauma, most can recover and go on to live healthy and productive lives.
Explains how children of different ages may react to traumatic events and offers simple strategies for parents, caregivers, and communities to provide support and promote healing.
Discusses the differences between acute, chronic, and complex trauma and how each trauma type uniquely affects children. Emphasizes the importance of recognizing their overlap to provide effective trauma-informed care.
Offers a compendium of tools to guide medical professionals in effectively assessing and treating medical traumatic stress in children and families. This toolkit helps providers address the emotional, as well as the physical side of trauma.
Offers information on military children who are grieving the loss of a loved one. This tip sheet describes how military children dealing with trauma and grief responses may be feeling and what parents can do to help. Translated in 2025.
Provides parents and caregivers with information about traumatic grief in military children.
Provides military parents and caregivers with several ways to mitigate the negative effects of deployment including maintaining well-being, fostering positive family dynamics, and using effective parenting strategies.
Provides information for parents and caregivers about how to support their family when a large community event is happening in their city or town.
Provides parents and caregivers information on sexual development and behavior in children.
Provides information to parents and caregivers on Childhood Traumatic Grief.
Offers information on why school personnel are important for grieving students. Translated in 2024.
Outlines the feelings of young children struggling with the death of someone meaningful and offers suggestions on what caregivers can do to help. Translated in 2024.
Offers information for caregivers on unconfirmed death, how it relates to forced displacement, how it is traumatic for children, and how children might respond.