My wish is that children are protected, nurtured, supported and guided to grow and develop into adults who have a healthy sense of identity, belonging, worth and dignity, into adults who are kind, respectful and contribute to society in meaningful ways, into adults who have the capacity to raise decent human beings in return. This is because, sometimes children experience grave injustices in the hands of people who should be protecting and caring for them. Because the people caring for them have experienced traumas of their own, intergenerational and transgenerational trauma, because hurt people, hurt people. Children have been harmed, their needs neglected and exposed to physical, emotional and psychological violence that have left them with visible scars and sometimes unseen scars, we refer to as trauma, and which if remains unaddressed or untreated can persist through to adulthood.

Having worked in the Child Protection system in Australia for several years, I have been involved in interventions that ensure the safety of children who have experienced or are at risk of experiencing abuse, neglect or are exposed to violence. I often think that it is a shame that there is a need for thousands of jobs in this system because there is an underlying sense I have that our little people should always be safe. Because they are (or should be) loved and due to their obvious vulnerabilities. What I have witnessed time and time again is that love is not always enough and their protection is not always guaranteed. Since I started working in child protection, I have increasingly become aware of trauma and its impacts on people. There has been an increased emphasis on professionals in health, education settings, and helping industries becoming trauma aware, trauma sensitive, trauma responsive and trauma informed. I have worked through the trauma awareness continuum by taking up studies and reading extensively on the topic, working with children and young people impacted by trauma and working alongside colleagues who have extensive knowledge and who share their practice wisdom .

In this site and on my YouTube channel, I share evidence-based information that continues to develop through research and practice on topics of child and human development, neurobiology, trauma and how trauma affects our various brain and body functions and some ways to achieve Healing. All of which is shared with care and sensitivity.

By myself, Racheal Kariuki