Colic as Trauma Release? A Comparative Exploration of Play Therapy in Children With and Without a History of Colic

Colic, characterized by excessive, inconsolable crying in early infancy, has long puzzled researchers and clinicians. Traditional approaches have predominantly relied on medical models, yet they have failed to provide satisfactory explanations or effective treatments. This blinded comparative qualitative study took a novel approach by asking: What are the womb and birth experiences of colicky babies in relation to the prenatal relational trauma between mother and fetus or within the fetal environment? The sample comprised 23 mother-child dyads, 10 children with a history of colic and 13 without, whose histories and interactions unfolded through 10 videotaped sessions of Experiential Play Therapy. Children with a colic history engaged in far less traumatic reenactment than those without, and those born vaginally in both groups re-enacted less trauma than those born via caesarian section. These findings suggest that colic may be the natural release of accumulated pre- and peri-natal trauma rather than an illness or condition requiring treatment resulting in a healthier child than non colicky children whose trauma impacts have not been expressed or released.