Our Center for Pediatric Traumatic Stress (CPTS) collaborates worldwide with hospitals and universities, as well as nonprofit and government organizations, to prevent and treat medical traumatic stress in healthcare settings. 

Part of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, we work to: 

• Increase healthcare providers’ awareness and recognition of medical traumatic stress by using the Health Care Toolbox 
• Develop and promote evidence-based screenings and interventions for children and families who have experienced traumatic stress because of childhood illness and injury 
• Provide training to medical and mental health providers about best practices in assessing and treating medical traumatic stress 
• Develop and distribute resources about coping with traumatic stress to sick and injured children and their families 

Our partners

Many professionals contribute to our work. Our team collaborates with: 

• Healthcare professionals from across CHOP, including the departments of Psychology, Critical Care Medicine, Emergency Medicine, Nursing, Oncology, Primary Care, Psychiatry and Surgery  
• Medical and mental health providers nationwide 
• National Child Traumatic Stress Network partners 

 In collaboration with our partners, we study the effects of medical traumatic stress on children, teens and families, and use what we learn to raise awareness and improve treatment. 

Our activities

• Developing an educational website for healthcare professionals to access information and training in trauma-informed care 
• Providing training, information and resources for medical and mental health professionals about evaluating and treating medical traumatic stress in children and their families 
• Working with national healthcare provider organizations to raise awareness about trauma-informed care and best practices in preventing and treating medical traumatic stress 
• Adapting our assessments and interventions for medical traumatic stress across a wider range of healthcare settings and patient populations 
• Translating our educational materials for children and parents into Spanish  
• Developing additional online and print resources so a wide variety of patients and families can access information and educational materials 

Our resources

In partnership with the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, we have developed many resources for medical and mental health providers to use to prevent and treat medical traumatic stress. These resources include: 

• The Pediatric Medical Traumatic Stress Toolkit for Healthcare Providers, including practical tools, information, a brief screening, intervention guidelines and patient handouts 
• Parent tip sheets and child activity sheets for families who may be at risk of traumatic stress because of serious illness, injury or long hospitalization 
• A comprehensive list of sources on medical traumatic stress in children and families, from 1974-2008  

For more information about these or other resources for medical or mental health providers, please contact the Center for Pediatric Traumatic Stress at cpts@chop.edu.