Terrance provides a brief description of a complicated process that is a normal response to stress stimuli. Then we ask what happens when the stress is too severe, too frequent and occurs during childhood? Answer: toxic stress.
Toxic stress refers to persistent adversity that a child experiences — without the buffer of a safe, stable adult or other protective factors — which can result in a dysregulated stress response.
Resources
The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Adversity by Nadine Burke Harris
