Childhood traumatic stress is a term that is commonly used in the field of mental health to describe the psychological impact of traumatic events on children and youth where the usual coping abilities to extreme stressors are overwhelmed. According to the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN), about one in every four children will experience at least one traumatic event before the age of 16. A child who experiences trauma may develop symptoms of posttraumatic stress or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, PTSD is a disorder that results from exposure to traumatic events that involve actual or threatened death or serious injury to self or to another. To meet diagnostic criteria for the disorder, an individual would ...