Glossary

Trauma

When we talk about trauma we’re referring to developmental trauma or the trauma that happens in a child’s important relationships, usually early in their lives. Also known as Adverse Childhood Experiences, developmental trauma includes things like chronic abuse, neglect or other household dysfunction experienced by children. When a child is exposed to overwhelming stress and their caregiver does not help reduce this stress, or is the cause of the stress, the child experiences developmental trauma.

Trauma-informed

Being trauma-informed means to:

  • Recognise the prevalence of ACEs and potential trauma in others;
  • Recognise the many behaviours and symptoms that are the result of traumatic experiences;
  • Recognise that being treated with respect and kindness – and being empowered with choices – are often key in helping people recover from traumatic experiences.

The goal of trauma-informed care and practice is to help people identify and practice ways of reducing distress.

Wellbeing

Social and emotional well-being and positive mental health are often used interchangeably, a common definition is: “… a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.” (WHO, 2012)

Social and Emotional Skills

This refers to the abilities to regulate one’s thoughts, emotions & behaviour. These skills differ from cognitive abilities such as literacy or numeracy because they mainly concern how people manage their emotions, perceive themselves and engage with others, rather than their raw ability to process information. There are a number of different frameworks for measuring these skills but when we refer to them at Khulisa we are talking specifically about resilience, social skills, emotional regulation.

Social & emotional learning (SEL)

Social & emotional learning (SEL) is the process through which children learn to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions. At Khulisa, we use the term learning to track the development of these skills rather than static capability.

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