People usually think about the military when they talk about trauma. But for every soldier who gets PTSD in a war zone, there's at least 30 children who get traumatized at home.

The big question continues to be how do you help kids who have been exposed to enormous amounts of violence? How do you help these kids get a sense of self, a sense of agency, so they can make a life for themselves where they can learn, acquire skills, acquire competencies, and become full-fledged human beings?

Bessel van der Kolk’s greatest dream is that in grades K through 12, kids get taught weekly about self-regulation - what kinds can do to calm themselves down and orient themselves. To aid in healing childhood trauma, every school in America would ideally be taught the following: reading, writing, arithmetic, and self-regulation.

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About Bessel van der Kolk:

Bessel van der Kolk is a psychiatrist noted for his research in the area of post-traumatic stress since the 1970s. His work focuses on the interaction of attachment, neurobiology, and developmental aspects of trauma’s effects on people. His major publication, Traumatic Stress: The Effects of Overwhelming Experience on Mind, Body, and Society, talks about how the role of trauma in psychiatric illness has changed over the past 20 years.

Dr. van der Kolk is past President of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Professor of Psychiatry at Boston University Medical School, and Medical Director of the Trauma Center at JRI in Brookline, Massachusetts. He has taught at universities and hospitals across the United States and around the world, including Europe, Africa, Russia, Australia, Israel, and China.

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