Supporting Young Children to Cope, Build Resilience, and Heal from Trauma Through Play: A Practical Guide for Early Childhood Educators

Now more than ever, there is a need for early childhood professionals to comprehensively integrate trauma-sensitive practices into their work with children and families. This essential resource offers instructional strategies teachers can use daily to support their students dealing with trauma in early learning environments. Readers will learn to create opportunities for children to use their natural language―play―to reduce their stress, to cope with adversity, to build resilience, and even to heal from trauma. Nicholson and Kurtz provide vignettes, case study examples, textboxes, photographs, and descriptions of adapted therapeutic strategies ready for implementation in the classroom. Practical and comprehensive, this book is ideal for both prospective and veteran early childhood educators seeking to understand trauma-informed practices when working with young children (birth–8) in a range of environments.

Julie Nicholson, PhD, is a Professor of Practice, Associate Editor of Early Child Development and Care, author, international speaker/trainer, and MBA candidate (2023) concentrating on finance and data analytics.

Julie Kurtz, MS, is an author and national speaker consulting and training on trauma and resilience. Julie is the founder and CEO of the Center for Optimal Brain Integration®.