National Center for Relational Health and Trauma-Informed Care

Trauma-Informed Care: Recognize, Respond, and Empower with Relationships to Help Children and Families Thrive

Many children and families have experienced trauma - whether that's trauma that occurs within the household, like substance use, parental mental illness, abuse or neglect; or trauma that occurs in the community, like community violence, poverty and others. Pediatricians may not always know which of their patients and families have experienced trauma - that's why the AAP recommends trauma-informed care (TIC) as a universal approach to pediatric care.

What is TIC? How to Implement TIC

The National Center for Relational Health and Trauma-Informed Care empowers pediatricians and pediatric health care professionals with a universal approach that promotes safe, stable and nurturing relationships and the resources to recognize, assess and treat trauma to help children and families thrive.

Click here to learn more about the National Center, or contact us.

Web pages whose development was supported by federal government grants are being reviewed to comply with applicable Executive Orders.

What’s New

Upcoming Webinar - Trauma-Informed Care in the NICU: What Neonatologists and NICU Care Teams Should Know

July 14th @ 11am CT

NICU teams play a key role in recognizing, preventing, and mitigating traumatic stress through trauma‑informed care that supports connection and early relational health. In this webinar, Dena Hubbard, MD, FAAP and Samantha Kucaj, PsyD will share practical strategies for bedside support and discharge coordination. Click here to register!

Now Recruiting – AAP Trauma-Informed Pediatric Care and Resilience Promotion ECHO

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is recruiting pediatricians and other pediatric clinicians to join the AAP Trauma-Informed Pediatric Care and Resilience Promotion ECHO. This ECHO will serve as a forum for participants to develop effective knowledge and skills that will enable them to facilitate conversations around childhood trauma with pediatric patients and their families. Register Online Here!

The National Center Turns One!

The AAP recently released an Impact Report for the National Center for Relational Health and Trauma-Informed Care. This report highlights the National Center’s first-year accomplishments, reach, and growing capacity to advance trauma-informed care and relational health across the pediatric health care system, providing a clear and visually engaging overview of its work and impact. Click here to access the report.

Resources to Share with Families

It is important for families to understand that trauma and toxic stress can be prevented, and recovery is possible if trauma has occurred. Share resources such as infographics, articles and parenting tips, available in English and Spanish, to empower families with strategies for building resilience.