Childhood trauma and its long-term psychiatric impact

Independent psychiatric assessment of adults whose claims concern abuse or neglect in childhood: the psychiatric effects across their adult life, what caused them, and their likely course. Free initial screening call and fixed fees with no hidden charges.

Submit an enquiry Call 0121 752 6065
  • APIL Tier 1 Recommended Expert
  • Claimant, defendant and SJE
  • Structured for CPR Part 35
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The effects of childhood trauma in adult life

Abuse in childhood can shape the whole of a person’s adult life: their mental health, education, work, relationships and ability to parent. Dr Pradhan assesses adults whose claims concern childhood abuse or neglect, and gives an opinion on the psychiatric consequences across their life so far and on the likely future course.

These assessments look back over many years. The history is set against school, social care, GP and mental health records, and the report considers longstanding psychosocial adversity and earlier psychiatric history, so that the effects of the abuse relied on are separated from other causes rather than assumed.

Historic abuse is at the centre of Dr Pradhan’s practice. She is an APIL Tier 1 recommended expert and is regularly appointed as a single joint expert in contested matters.

What the report covers

Childhood trauma reports commonly address:

  • The psychiatric diagnosis now, and its course since childhood
  • PTSD, complex PTSD, depression and anxiety in adulthood
  • Personality-related difficulties and when they emerged
  • Self-harm, substance misuse and contact with services over the years
  • The effect on schooling, qualifications and employment
  • Relationships, trust, parenting and family life
  • Other adversity in childhood, and its separate contribution
  • Apportionment between abusers, and between sexual and non-sexual abuse
  • Delayed disclosure and delayed-onset symptoms
  • The claimant’s probable life without the abuse
  • Treatment needs, prognosis and future vulnerability
  • Supplementary questions, joint statements and second opinions

Send a short outline of the childhood abuse or neglect relied on and the relevant dates, and Dr Pradhan will confirm the scope of opinion and a fixed fee.

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The question behind the damages

In childhood trauma claims, the hardest psychiatric question is often what the claimant’s life would have been without the abuse. The report deals with it in three steps:

  1. What psychiatric difficulties does the claimant have now, and how have they developed?
  2. Which of them are attributable to the abuse, and which to other adversity?
  3. How would the claimant probably have fared in education, work and relationships without it?

The answers inform loss of earnings and other heads of loss, so the report sets out the reasoning and the evidence for each.

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Looking back over many years

Records from childhood may be incomplete, scattered across councils, schools and care providers, or written at a time when abuse was not recognised. The assessment works from what is available and says plainly where gaps limit the opinion.

Disclosure is often delayed until adulthood, and symptoms may emerge or worsen at later life events. The report considers the pattern of disclosure and symptoms over time as clinical evidence, and explains how it fits the rest of the history.

Records commonly reviewed

  • GP records from childhood
  • School and education records
  • Social care and care records
  • Mental health records
  • Police and CICA papers
  • Employment history

Questions often raised

  • Causation and other adversity
  • Apportionment
  • Loss of education and earnings
  • Delayed disclosure
  • Treatment needs
  • Prognosis
Submit an enquiry Call 0121 752 6065

Adverse childhood experiences and causation

Childhood abuse rarely happens alone. Neglect, domestic abuse in the home, parental mental illness or substance misuse, and time in care often appear in the same history. The report considers each, and explains how much of the claimant’s present difficulties can reasonably be attributed to the abuse relied on.

For claims in England and Wales the report is structured for CPR Part 35. Reports for proceedings in Scotland and Northern Ireland are prepared to the requirements of those courts. In England and Wales, claims for injury from sexual abuse suffered under 18 have had no time limit since 29 June 2026; physical and emotional abuse and neglect still do. Limitation in each jurisdiction is covered on the historical abuse and childhood sexual abuse pages.

Submit an enquiry Call 0121 752 6065
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)

A research term for stressful events in childhood such as abuse, neglect and household dysfunction. A high ACE count is linked with poorer adult health across populations, but it does not show what caused one person’s difficulties.

Related pages

Complex PTSDProlonged or repeated trauma, often from childhoodFind out more
Historical abusePsychiatric assessment of non-recent abuseFind out more
Psychiatric causationChronology, competing explanations and apportionmentFind out more
Childhood sexual abusePsychiatric evidence in claims by adult survivorsFind out more

Childhood trauma questions

If your question is not answered here, call and Dr Pradhan will advise on scope and timescale.

Call 0121 752 6065
Does Dr Pradhan assess children?

She assesses adults aged 18 and over. Where the claimant is still a child, the assessment can be arranged through the child psychiatrists in her network; call to discuss the case.

Can the report separate the abuse from other problems in the claimant’s childhood?

Yes, as far as the evidence allows. Where the history does not allow the causes to be separated, the report says so and explains why.

Will the report help with loss of earnings?

Yes. It gives the psychiatric opinion on how the claimant’s education and working life would probably have developed without the abuse, which the other evidence on earnings can build on.

What if the childhood records are missing?

The assessment works from the records that exist and the history given, and the report says where gaps limit the opinion.

How quickly can a report be delivered?

Usually 1–2 weeks from assessment, and urgent reports can often be provided in 2–5 working days where the papers and appointment can be arranged promptly.

Instruct Dr Pradhan on a childhood abuse claim

Send the claimant’s age, a short outline of the claim and the issues, the funding route and any limitation or hearing dates.

Please do not include medical records or a detailed personal history in this form. Dr Pradhan will confirm how to send the papers once the instruction is agreed.

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