Bruce D. Perry

Trauma and our responses to it cannot be understood outside the context of human relationships. Whether people have survived an earthquake of have been repeatedly sexually abused, what matters most is how those experiences affect their relationships - to their loved ones, to themselves and to the world. The most traumatic aspects of all disasters involve the shattering of human connections. And this is especially true for children. Being harmed by the people who are supposed to love you, being abandoned by them, being robbed of the one-on-one relationships that allow you to feel safe and valued and to become humane - these are profoundly destructive experiences. Because humans are inescapably social beings, the worst catastrophes that can befall us inevitably involve relational loss.

As a result, recovery from trauma and neglect is also about relationships - rebuilding trust, regaining confidence, returning to a sense of security and reconnecting to love.

- Bruce D. Perry, The Boy Who Was Raised As A Dog,(pg 231-232)