Member News from Break: What trauma‑informed fostering looks like in practice

Children who come into foster care often arrive with ways of thinking, behaving and relating that have helped them survive difficult early experiences. Trauma‑informed fostering starts with understanding this — and responding in ways that prioritise safety, connection and healing.

At Break, trauma‑informed care is something our foster carers are supported to use every day, with guidance from our therapeutic practitioner and supervising social workers.

Understanding trauma and the developing brain
When children experience ongoing stress, fear, neglect or instability early in life, their brains develop around survival. The brain’s alarm system becomes highly sensitive, keeping the child on high alert even when they are safe.

In these moments, the parts of the brain responsible for emotional regulation, problem‑solving and learning are much harder to access. Behaviour that looks unpredictable or challenging is often a survival response shaped by earlier experiences, showing up in the present.

Calm the body before guiding behaviour
One of the key principles we share with foster carers is: calm the body, then guide the behaviour.

When a child’s nervous system is in survival mode (fight, flight, freeze or shutdown), they aren't in a space to be able to listen to reasoning or correction. Regulation has to come first. This is where practical, everyday techniques make a real difference.

Grounding: coming back to the present 
Grounding techniques help children (and adults) reconnect with the present moment when emotions feel overwhelming. These can be as simple as: 

slow, deep breathing, such as ‘blowing out candles’ 
noticing the senses, like naming things you can see, hear or touch. 
These techniques work best when they’re practised during calm moments, not just in crises. Over time, they become familiar, intentional tools children can draw on when big feelings arise. 

Click here to read the full article.

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