Online videos that provide an educational scope of trauma:

Childhood Trauma, Affect Regulation, and Borderline Personality Disorder by Bessel van der Kolk, M.D.

• Description: Bessel van der Kolk, M.D. shares his findings related to childhood experiences and borderline personality disorder (BPD). From his study of subjects with BPD, he found that 87% of his participants had histories of severe childhood abuse and/or neglect starting prior to age 7. The most frequent exposure types of traumas experienced included experiencing childhood emotional abuse, loss of a primary caregiver, having an impaired caregiver, and exposure to domestic violence.

Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences on Health Across the Life Course—Core Story: The ACE Study by Robert Anda, M.D., M.S.

• Description: This video discusses the link between childhood trauma and long-term health and social consequences. The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study is a research project conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Kaiser Permanente’s Health Appraisal Clinic in San Diego. The ACE Study’s findings suggest that certain childhood experiences are major risk factors for the leading causes of illness and death in addition to negatively impacting the quality of life of those who experienced ACEs.

Interpersonal and Institutional Betrayal by Jennifer Freyd, Ph.D.

• Description: Jennifer Freyd, Ph.D. outlines the Betrayal Trauma Theory and the current research surrounding institutional and interpersonal betrayal. Like the ACE Study, she notes that health symptoms are also related to betrayal trauma, including, but not limited to, higher symptoms of anxiety, depression, dissociation, physical illness, hallucinations, self-harm, and re-victimization.

Overview of Sleep: Implications for Trauma Survivors by Kathleen Kendall-Tackett, Ph.D.

• Description: Kathleen Kendall-Tackett, Ph.D. provides a brief overview of how trauma impacts sleeping patterns, leading to a multitude of sleep disorders. She also notes that individuals who are chronically sleep deprived exhibit an increased risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome, and how trauma survivors are at particular risk for these illnesses.

Overview of Trauma and Health by Kathleen Kendall-Tackett, Ph.D.

• Description: Kathleen Kendall-Tackett, Ph.D. provides a brief overview of the relationship between trauma and health. She mentions the ACE Study, as well as other recent studies that show how childhood abuse leads to health problems across the lifespan. For example, she cites one study that found that experiencing childhood physical and sexual abuse doubles the odds of both depression and obesity in adulthood.

Prevent, Screen and Heal, Interrupting the Intergenerational Cycle of Adversity by Nadine Burke Harris, M.D., MPH, FAAP

• Description: Dr. Nadine Burke Harris talks about the lifelong impact of childhood adverse experiences and what her pediatric clinic is doing to screen for and support traumatized children and families.

Trauma and the Brain: Could Early Life Trauma Impact Brain Development? by Ruth Lanius, M.D., Ph.D.

• Description: Ruth Lanius, M.D., Ph.D. discusses the impact of early life trauma on brain development. She notes that research on brain development shows that infants and children who have experienced trauma and/or insecure attachment relationships have less cognitive engagement while they are younger, as well as developmental unrest throughout the lifespan.