Quotes About Childhood

Childhood experiences literally impact the biology of the brain.

The developmental process is very front-loaded, meaning that the majority of brain growth and organization takes place in the first years of life. Now, this doesn't mean that the brain won't change after early childhood, but early life experiences do have a very powerful impact on how we develop.

When young children hear fewer words, they can still learn to speak—they'll just be less fluent. In the same way, when children have fewer relational interactions, they'll still develop social capabilities—they'll just be less mature, more self-centered, more self-absorbed.

Neglect is most destructive early in life, when the brain is rapidly growing; early neglect interferes with the child's getting the necessary stimulation required for normal development.

The struggles I endured as a child are what allowed me to recognize and care about pain in others. The validation I longed for as a child is what I see other people longing for just as intensely.

Adversity impacts the developing child. Period. What the impact will be, when it may manifest, how it may be "buffered"-we can't always say. But developmental trauma will always influence our body and brain.

A child in an environment where they feel loved and safe will choose to leave their comfort zone. Safe and familiar is "boring"; a safe and stable child is a curious child-they want to explore new things. A child who feels unsafe, however, won't want this. It's an essential rule of healthy development: A sense of safety and stability provides a foundation for healthy growth.

Oprah: In every single interaction, there is a moment when we all wonder, Do you see me? Do you hear me? Children know from birth whether their caregiver's eyes light up when they enter a room. They sense and respond to tenderness, playfulness, compassion, and patience. They know the true feeling of quality time. They know they are loved.

The earliest relational experiences are the most powerful and enduring.

is even more difficult to understand and take into account how early childhood trauma can express underlying genetic vulnerabilities.

What this also means is that early experiences will necessarily have a far greater impact than later ones.

chair under the doorknob of her bedroom door and found some cans to put around the door. The next morning she tied those cans together and hung them from the door. And, every night for the rest of my days living with my grandmother, the cans were on the door and the chair was up under the knob. I would try to sleep while listening to make sure the cans didn't move.

the earlier it starts, the more difficult it is to treat and the greater the damage is likely to be.

Love, given and felt, is dependent upon the ability to be present, attentive, attuned, and responsive to another human being. This glue of humanity has been essential to the survival of our species—and to the health and happiness of the individual. And this ability is based upon what happened to you, primarily as a young child.

A cold, disengaged, partially attentive caregiver can have immediate, and potentially lifelong, toxic effects on the developing child. This child may grow up feeling inadequate, unlovable. Even with many gifts and skills, they will feel they are "not enough" as an adult, and that can lead to a host of maladaptive behaviors including unhealthy forms of attention seeking, self-sabotaging, or even self-destructive behavior.

Dr. Perry: Love, given and felt, is dependent upon the ability to be present, attentive, attuned, and responsive to another human being. This glue of humanity has been essential to the survival of our species—and to the health and happiness of the individual. And this ability is based upon what happened to you, primarily as a young child.

The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog: And Other Stories from a Child Psychiatrist's Notebook

A child exposed to unpredictable or extreme stress will become what we call dysregulated.

The long-term impact of being whupped—then forced to hush and even smile about it—turned me into a world-class people pleaser for most of my life. It would not have taken me half a lifetime to learn to set boundaries and say "no" with confidence had I been nurtured differently.

My grandmother Hattie Mae's home was a place where children were seen and not heard.

The most pervasive feeling I remember from my own childhood is loneliness.

And so, when you are an attentive, attuned, and responsive caregiver to these little ones, you're literally weaving together this powerful three-part association - you're building a healthy root system for the Tree of Regulation.

las fuerzas o las vulnerabilidades genéticas se ven aumentadas o mitigadas en el contexto de las primeras relaciones de un niño.

have used the term "complex trauma" to try to capture developmental neglect and maltreatment, but I believe that lumps too many things into one box.