Is Your Teenager Continuing to Struggle Emotionally And Physically Following A Traumatic Event?
Has your teenager experienced or witnessed a traumatic event? Since the event, have you observed noticeable changes in your teen’s emotional wellbeing and behaviors? Perhaps your teen has been experiencing nightmares or flashbacks or seems fearful of people, places or situations that remind him or her of the trauma. Or maybe your teen is constantly angry, acting out and easily triggered. Does your teenager seem edgy, struggle to focus, or suddenly have trouble with peers or in school? Is your teen prone to intense bursts of crying, withdrawing from friends and family or exhibiting other symptoms of depression? Perhaps your teen has complained of physical discomforts, such as stomachaches, headaches or other pain. Do you wish you knew how to help your teen feel better and function well again?
Watching your teen suffer from the repercussions of a traumatic event can leave you feeling overwhelmed, frightened and helpless. You may struggle to know how to help your child or how to determine how severely affected your teen is by the experience. It’s important to note that trauma is a highly individualized experience, and its effects are determined by the intensity of a perceived helplessness. What traumatizes one person may have a lesser effect on another. After experiencing trauma, however, it is not unusual for teens to fear that their current safety is at risk and become unable to trust themselves and others. Emotions can shift from agitation to depression quickly, and many teens either withdraw or act out.
Your teen’s trauma may have been caused by a single incident, such as a serious car accident. Or the trauma may be developmental, which can include child abuse or other types of abuse that occurred more than once, over time. Depending on the nature of your teen’s traumatic experience, he or she may have developed symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which can have enduring effects. And, trauma is not created by the actual event, but rather by your teen’s nervous system and psyche’s inability to discharge shock from the body. When the normal fight/flight response freezes, panic and fear become “stuck” in the body, causing a major disruption to the function of the nervous system – which is why trauma symptoms are expressed physically as well as emotionally.
Teenage Trauma Is Not Uncommon
We live in a demanding, busy culture, and teens are not immune to the stresses and upsets that infiltrate our daily lives. Trauma occurs every day, and some teens are less resilient than others. And, trauma can occur following any event in which a teen feels threatened and helpless. Many teens experience trauma due to divorce, abuse (which can be peer or sibling abuse as well as physical, sexual or emotional), accidents, multiple surgeries and natural disasters, such as the floods that devastated Colorado in 2013.
If your teen has been exposed to a traumatic event and you’re observing major changes in behavior that are not subsiding, getting help as soon as possible is critical. A skilled an experienced trauma therapist can help your teen heal from trauma and gain the insight and skills needed to feel more confident, secure and relieved.
Trauma Therapy Can Help To Mitigate And Heal Teenage Trauma
With the help of a therapist who is specifically trained to treat teenage trauma, your teen can experience relief and begin to heal. Effective trauma treatment is a somatic, purposeful and mindful process. Because trauma is held in the body, somatic approaches are a necessary component of trauma therapy. It’s also important that your teen develops a trusting relationship with his or her therapist, rebuilds the nervous system and feels secure in his or herself and environments again before approaching the traumatic event.
In teen counseling sessions, I can help your teen identify, explore and address any erratic, numbing or intense emotions and uncomfortable physical symptoms. We can address the feelings of grief and loss that come after a life-changing event and devise the healthy and effective skills needed to cope with trauma symptoms during this challenging time. In sessions, your teen can also develop an increased self-awareness, build a better understanding of emotional triggers, and learn supportive techniques to use when anxiety or other distressing feelings and sensations surface. You teen can develop a mindfulness practice and learn healthy ways to handle stress and triggers.
I believe in a collaborative approach to treating teenage trauma and can help to educate you and your teen’s teachers about the impacts of trauma. Together, we can create a plan that best supports your child. When parents, counselors and other important players in your teen’s life are involved, your teen can experience space and relief from other pressures and heal more effectively.
Using modalities and approaches designed and proven to treat trauma, I can help your teen get back on track, re-regulate his or her nervous system and heal from trauma. With help and a slow, deliberate approach, your teen can release painful emotions, increase resiliency, restore balance and harmony and regain his or her life. It is possible for your teen to let go of fear, anxiety and pain and feel whole again.
You may believe that trauma and ptsd therapy could help your teen, but still have questions or concerns…
I think that therapy could help, but I’m concerned about the cost and time commitment.
Unfortunately, there is no quick fix for trauma. And, given that every teenager experiences trauma differently, each also heals on a different time continuum. Teenagers need to feel safe before they can begin to process their trauma – even more so than adults who have more life experience and have often developed the reasoning skills needed to heal more quickly. Teenager’s brains and nervous systems are also still developing, and excess stress to the nervous system through trauma can have significant effects. That said, I always have a treatment goal in mind, can update you on progress, and will gently guide your child on a path to healing.
I know that my teen is struggling, but I can’t understand why he or she isn’t over the trauma yet.
Trauma resides in the body. Unless it is released somatically, it will remain stuck. Trauma is also highly individualized, so telling a teen that he or she should get over it can actually re-traumatize. Healing from a trauma also really depends on personal resiliency, and we need to look at your teen’s whole experience – not just a piece of it. Teens dealing with trauma need to feel safe. They need support and a secure environment to process difficult emotions and physical sensations before experiencing relief is possible.
I desperately believe that my teen needs help, but he or she refuses to try counseling for teens.
Trauma can be intense, confusing and frightening. It is common for teens to not want to deal with it. That’s why many try to numb or act out. However, it’s important for you to gently continue to encourage your teenager to try therapy. Ask your teen how he or she felt before and after the trauma. Ask if he or she would like to feel normal and happy again. Point out that there have been noticeable changes in behavior and that therapy is a safe place to talk about feelings. Also let your teen know that he or she doesn’t have to talk about the traumatic event until ready. Forcing your teen will not help, and can often re-traumatize. Please call me for a free phone consultation to discuss how we can get your child the help he or she needs if the refusal continues.
With help and the right approach, your teenager can experience relief. If your teenager is in need of trauma treatment in Louisville, CO or the surrounding area, I invite you to call me at 720-417-8222 for a free 15-minute phone consultation. I’m happy to discuss your teenager’s specific needs and answer any questions you may have about teenage trauma, counseling for teenagers and my practice.