What helps a child begin to recover from trauma? Often, it isn’t one big intervention or a single breakthrough moment. Instead, it’s the everyday experiences that help a child feel safe, valued, and cared for. A trusted adult who keeps their promises. A calm response during a difficult moment. A place where children know they belong. And for foster carers, understanding how trauma affects a child’s life can make all the difference in supporting their recovery.
This was the focus of our recent Understanding Trauma and Supporting Recovery Workshop, where foster carers from Dundee came together at Carolina House to explore the impact of trauma, deepen their understanding of trauma-informed care, and learn practical ways to support the health and wellbeing of the children and young people in their care.
Understanding Trauma and Its Impact on Children
For many care experienced children and young people, trauma can be the result of neglect, abuse, loss, grief, unstable circumstances, or other distressing experiences. And although these events may be in the past, their impact can continue to shape a child’s emotional wellbeing, relationships, learning, behaviour, and physical health for many years after. With this in mind, the workshop explored how trauma can affect each child differently, helping carers better understand the connection between a child’s experiences and their behaviour. And as discussions developed, participants were encouraged to look beyond what they see on the surface and consider what might lie beneath it. In doing so, carers reflected on how behaviours such as anger, withdrawal, or defiance can often be a child’s way of communicating fear, uncertainty, or unmet needs, leading to one of the key messages of the day: moving away from asking “What’s wrong with you?” and instead considering “What’s happened to you?”. By approaching children with curiosity, empathy, and understanding, carers can then help create the safe and supportive environments where recovery can begin.
Why Safe Relationships Matter
As carers’ understanding of trauma grew throughout the session, so too did the conversation around recovery. One of the strongest messages to emerge was the powerful role that safe, supportive relationships can play in helping children heal. For children who have experienced trauma, recovery often begins with consistency, trust, and emotional safety. Together, participants explored how positive relationships help children build secure attachments, develop resilience, and feel safe enough to learn, grow, and explore the world around them. In contrast, when children don’t feel safe, much of their energy can be focused on survival rather than building connections or reaching their full potential.
This is where foster carers can make such a meaningful difference through everyday moments of care and connection, whether that’s listening without judgement, maintaining familiar routines, celebrating small achievements, or offering reassurance during difficult times. Reflecting on the workshop, Michelle Wilson emphasised that supporting recovery is not about having all the answers or finding a quick solution. Instead, it is often the small, everyday interactions that help children feel safe, valued, and understood.
What stays with me after every workshop is the commitment foster carers have to the children they support. Recovery isn’t about fixing a child, it’s about helping them feel safe enough to be themselves. Sometimes the most powerful thing a carer can say is: ‘I’m still here, and I’m not giving up on you.’
Michelle Wilson, Head of Children Services, Children’s Health Scotland
Understanding Trauma and the Brain
As participants developed a deeper understanding of trauma, they also explored what happens inside the brain when a child experiences stress or fear, as understanding these processes can help carers make sense of behaviours that might otherwise feel confusing or challenging.
Throughout the session, carers learned about the body’s natural stress response, including the role of cortisol, often referred to as the stress hormone, and how prolonged exposure to stress can affect a child’s wellbeing. Discussions also explored the concept of “Flip the Lid”, helping participants understand why children who have experienced trauma can sometimes become overwhelmed by emotions and struggle to access their “thinking brain” during times of stress.
By understanding what is happening beneath the surface, carers can begin to see behaviours differently. So, rather than focusing on the behaviour itself, they can recognise it as a possible response to past experiences and respond with greater empathy, patience, and support. And in doing so, they can help children feel safer, more understood, and better equipped to manage difficult emotions over time.
Building on this understanding of trauma and the brain, carers also explored practical ways to help children feel safe, supported, and empowered in everyday life. From using stories and memories to encouraging mindfulness, breathing exercises, creative activities, and healthy coping strategies, participants discovered simple approaches that can help children process emotions and build resilience over time.
Children’s Rights and Recovery From Trauma
The workshop also highlighted the importance of children’s rights in supporting recovery.
Participants learned about Article 39 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), which states that children and young people have the right to recover from difficult experiences in an environment that promotes their health, dignity, and self-respect.
As part of this, the group also explored how children and young people should be supported to have their views heard and taken into account when decisions are made about them, as understanding these rights can help carers better advocate for those in their care and ensure their voices remain at the centre of health and wellbeing matters.
Looking Ahead
We would like to thank everyone who attended the workshop and contributed their experiences, insights, and reflections.
By increasing understanding of trauma, strengthening trauma-informed practice, and championing children’s rights, foster carers can play a vital role in helping children and young people feel safe, valued, and supported to recover from difficult experiences.
Whether you’re new to fostering or looking to strengthen your existing knowledge, Children’s Health Scotland is here to support you every step of the way.
For more information on the workshops we offer for foster and kinship carers please CLICK HERE.
