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This chapter examines the association between brain development, trauma onset, memory, and neurobiological consequences of childhood trauma. It proposes a model of how stress-induced changes in the brain systems involved in stress and memory mediate changes in traumatic memories in patients with childhood abuse-related disorders. The relevance of the model to current controversies regarding the delayed recall of childhood abuse is discussed.

This prologue begins by considering the role of stress and trauma in memories of childhood experiences. It poses two broad questions: does the fact that one has experienced trauma during childhood affect subsequent memory processing? Can children who have been maltreated remember and report those experiences accurately? It argues that children can remember traumatic experiences especially if they occur after the period known as infantile amnesia, and care is taken with the manner in which children attempt to recollect this information. Stress, trauma, and maltreatment also affect the course of normal memory development. An overview of the succeeding chapters is presented.

Chapter 2 summarizes prior work on the effects of childhood trauma on children’s life-course and provides a general overview of the different types of traumatic experience that shaped the life-course of the young men in this study. This chapter shows that childhood trauma was able to unfold its full impact on these young men’s life-course because most families did not have access to mental health services that could have intervened proactively.

This chapter examines the complex relationship between childhood trauma and substance use. Not all children who experience childhood trauma will go on to use substances, and persons with no childhood trauma may develop substance use disorders. However, trauma has been found to greatly increase the risk of later substance use. Further, research suggests that individuals with histories of childhood trauma are more likely to report chronic pain symptoms that interfere with daily activities and are also more likely to be prescribed multiple prescription medications. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been directly associated with substance misuse and substance use disorders in adulthood, including illicit drug use, with a dose–response relationship such that the more ACEs children experience, the more likely they are to have such substance use problems as adults. Implications for prevention of opioid use disorder in particular, and substance misuse and addiction more generally, are discussed.

Hallucinations can be a common symptom of mental illness and traditionally were often associated with conditions such as schizophrenia. However, the reality is regarded as much more complex now. Data on hallucinations illustrate this. For example, hallucinations are experienced by approximately 10 percent of patients diagnosed as suffering from bipolar disorder and also sometimes by patients suffering from major depression. This chapter discusses hallucinations in a wider context than just certain mental illnesses. This chapter asks: what exactly are hallucinations and can they occur in other situations besides illness? It concludes that there is an association between childhood trauma and psychosis but they are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

Past research showed the robust effect of survival processing in several undergraduate samples. Recently, this effect was also demonstrated in children (Aslan & Bäuml, 2012; Otgaar & Smeets, 2010). To our knowledge, the present study is the first to illustrate the survival recall effect in childhood trauma victims. The present study was the first to examine the influence of rating words according to an abuse scenario, a new (i.e., not used in previous studies) scenario that could also be viewed as a form of survival and potentially inducing self-referential processing in people with a history of abuse. The present data illustrate the adaptive role of the memory system in people with a history of trauma.

This chapter examines how SFBT can be used with clients who have experienced childhood trauma and adverse childhood experiences. This chapter will look at the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences (ACES), what happens when incidents are compounded, the societal and economic impacts of childhood trauma, and bullying during childhood. We will explore how the SFBT model can be used to help children to cope with and reframe negative thoughts or experiences into positive and growth-oriented ones. The chapter also describes the application of SFBT using the solution-focused art gallery in the case of a young nine-year-old girl who is being bullied at school.

This chapter argues that using memory as a primary source in child-centered research on the recent past explicates the interconnection between the child and the adult in yet another distinct way. In particular, the story of the “hidden children” of World War II offers keen insights into how memories reveal the emotional texture of situations from childhood, even if the chronological facts and details of the events become blurred. With this in mind, the chapter focuses on three main areas concerning the memory of childhood trauma: the formation of distinct memories during childhood, memories of childhood that are difficult to access, and making sense of these memories once they are accessed.

Chapter 7 delves into long-term adversity and trauma. Martin Teicher explains how childhood maltreatment affects the developing brain and what that means for resilience and recovery. Amanda Sheffield Morris describes a new model to mitigate the effects of trauma. Angela Diaz presents troubling data about the extent of sexual abuse among girls, while Rebecca Epstein argues for rethinking the ways in which girls—especially girls of color—are victimized by systems that should be on their side. The chapter closes with an example of using technology to confront trauma. Bob Filbin, co-founder of the Crisis Text Line, describes how texting can help users find a wellspring of resilience in moments of crisis.

This chapter describes Pauli Murray’s childhood. At age three Murray moved from Baltimore to Durham, North Carolina, to live with her maternal relations following her mother’s sudden death. Murray endured another childhood trauma when a white attendant brutally murdered her father while he was confined to Crownsville Asylum for the Negro Insane. Jim Crow segregation created many more hardships and complications for Murray and her maternal family. Murray’s grandmother was descended from slaves and slave owners. Her grandfather fought for the Union in the Civil War. Both grandparents and many of their descendants could pass as white, but still embraced a black racial identity. The family subscribed to black uplift ideology: they prized education and adhered to middle-class values but also demonstrated ‘colorism.’

Towards a new model of medical practice: the empowerment model. The social determinants of health and the RACP’s 2019 guidance document, Employment, Poverty and Health. Subsequent work on improving health equity. Resilience and the internal locus of control. The role of childhood trauma, childhood sexual abuse, adverse childhood experiences, and chronic conditions in adulthood. Case example of fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, yet post-viral fatigue excluded; the success of a multidisciplinary approach. The importance of self-healing. The placebo effect: in 2016, 97 per cent of GPs in the UK admitted to using placebos. The concept of healing, and the role of sleep—‘Doctors are not good at telling their patients they will get better’. How the Māori model of health works in practice. The importance of spiritual health. How the author uses Māori model of health to co-develop a Life and Health Integration Plan with clients. A case example of this approach in the words of a patient. Using Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and the process of self-actualization. The author’s concept of ‘positive medicine’.