The AURA Model

The trauma I am going to focus most on today is that which arises in circumstances where the child’s parents are struggling with their own challenges, such as:

  • Mental health challenges;
  • Substance misuse;
  • Domestic and family violence;
  • Poor parenting knowledge;

the infant’s experience of these; and their impact.

In talking about the infant’s experience I will refer to the infant’s experience of the caregiving environment and their primary caregivers. A concept I find useful when referring to these qualities is their AURA.

In converting the term AURA to an acronym, its component parts represent four key aspects of the infant’s experience of early trauma, and a clue as to where to focus remedial efforts.

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