First, let me begin by saying that the terms developmental trauma, complex trauma, childhood trauma and relational trauma can be used interchangeably. 

But throughout my writing over the last nine years, I’ve predominantly used the term relational trauma versus childhood trauma and this largely centers on the fact that it’s been a struggle for many people to see their lived experience as “counting” as a childhood trauma experience.

I talked about that in my last essay but today, I want to provide more psychoeducation and share six reasons why you might struggle with the term.

But first, let’s ground ourselves in what used to be considered a childhood trauma experience.

What counts as childhood trauma?

Historically, my field has used the concept of ACEs, or Adverse Childhood Experiences, to diagnose and understand it. 

This framework was established by the landmark CDC-Kaiser study in the late 1990s, which aimed to identify and categorize experiences that could be classified as trauma leading to long-term health issues.

The study identified ten types of ACEs: emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional neglect, physical neglect, mother treated violently, substance abuse in the household, mental illness in the household, parental separation or divorce, and having an incarcerated household member. 

Surveying over 17,000 adults, the study found a strong correlation between the number of ACEs and negative health outcomes. This includes heart disease, diabetes, depression, and substance abuse. 

It was an incredible contribution to the field of traumatology.

However, while the ACEs framework was and is invaluable in terms of concretizing childhood abuse experiences and elevating conversation about this in the field of mental health, the study still has its limitations. 

I’ll talk more about those limitations in a minute. But first let me talk about the one other dominant way most people historically diagnosed childhood maltreatment experiences. This was through the definition provided by the World Health Organization:

“Child maltreatment is the abuse and neglect that occurs to children under 18 years of age. It includes all types of physical and/or emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect, negligence and commercial or other exploitation, which results in actual or potential harm to the child’s health, survival, development or dignity in the context of a relationship of responsibility, trust or power. Exposure to intimate partner violence is also sometimes included as a form of child maltreatment.”