Trauma-Informed Care for Youth Volunteers

What you’ll learn

• Understand trauma and ACEs — and how common they are among the youth you serve
• Recognize how trauma shows up as behavior (fight, flight, freeze)
• Apply the 4 R’s and the six principles of a trauma-informed approach
• Build safety and trust and avoid re-traumatizing a child
• Respond calmly in the moment, know your role, and protect your own well-being

Course outline

1. 1

   “What happened to you?”

   A child throws a chair. Another shuts down and won’t speak. A teen is defiant, or clingy, or “too much.” The old question was “What’s wrong with you?”…

   6 min Video Quiz
2. 2

   ACEs: adversity is widespread

   The landmark Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) study identified ten types of childhood adversity and found they’re remarkably common — and that the more a child…

   7 min Quiz
3. 3

   How trauma shows up as behavior

   When a child feels threatened — even by something that seems small to you — the brain’s alarm system can hijack the “thinking” brain and launch a survival response:…

   7 min Video Quiz
4. 4

   The 4 R’s and six principles

   SAMHSA gives us a simple map for a trauma-informed approach — the 4 R’s.

   6 min Quiz
5. 5

   Building safety & trust

   For a child whose world has felt unsafe or unpredictable, your steadiness is medicine.

   6 min Quiz Interactive
6. 6

   Responding in the moment

   When a child is dysregulated, you need a simple sequence.

   6 min Quiz Interactive
7. 7

   Your role, boundaries & self-care

   Trauma-informed care does not mean becoming a child’s therapist.

   5 min Quiz Interactive

Sources & further reading

• SAMHSA — Six Guiding Principles to a Trauma-Informed Approach (4 R’s)
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — About Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
• National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) — What Is Child Trauma?
• Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University — Toxic Stress
• ACEs Aware — Principles of Trauma-Informed Care