Experiencing trauma during childhood can cast a long shadow, affecting the way we think, feel, and interact with the world as adults. Unaddressed, it can breed a wide array of mental health challenges, from anxiety and depression to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). But there’s hope in the form of dedicated therapists who specialize in helping adults heal from their childhood trauma. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore everything you need to know about this specialized form of therapy.
What is Childhood Trauma Therapy?
Childhood Trauma Therapy is a specialized form of treatment designed to help individuals recover from traumatic experiences they underwent in childhood. These experiences can include physical or emotional abuse, neglect, violence, accidents, natural disasters, and more. The goal is to provide a safe space for individuals to process and make sense of their childhood trauma, which often manifests in complex ways throughout adulthood.
Understanding Childhood Trauma
Childhood trauma isn’t always what we expect it to be. The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) List was created by the CDC as part of a comprehensive study to better understand risk factors for mental and physical health issues and behavioral implications like criminality, abuse, and even academic and career success. The list of experiences is in the form of a questionnaire and includes some of the following items:
- Did a parent or other adult in the household often swear at you, insult you, put you down, or humiliate you? Or act in a way that made you afraid that you might be physically hurt?
- Did a parent or other adult in the household often …Push, grab, slap, or throw something at you? Or ever hit you so hard that you had marks or were injured?
- Did an adult or person at least 5 years older than you ever… Touch or fondle you or have you touch their body in a sexual way? Or Attempt or actually have oral, anal, or vaginal intercourse with you?
- Did you often or very often feel that … No one in your family loved you or thought you were important or special? Or did your family not look out for each other, feel close to each other, or support each other?
- Did you often or very often feel that … You didn’t have enough to eat, had to wear dirty clothes, and had no one to protect you? Or your parents were too drunk or high to take care of you or take you to the doctor if you needed it?
- Were your parents ever separated or divorced?
- Was your mother or stepmother… Often or very often pushed, grabbed, slapped, or had something thrown at her? or Sometimes, often, or very often kicked, bitten, hit with a fist, or hit with something hard? or Ever repeatedly hit at least a few minutes or threatened with a gun or knife?
- Did you live with anyone who was a problem drinker or alcoholic or who used street drugs?
- Was a household member depressed or mentally ill, or did a household member attempt suicide?
- Did a household member go to prison?
To score the questionnaire, you simply add up all of the items you answered “Yes” to, and that is your score.
Studies have shown that traumatic events during childhood are linked to higher rates of mental and physical health problems in adulthood. It can negatively influence the development of the brain, especially in crucial areas responsible for memory, emotion regulation, and learning, leading to a range of psychological issues.
Many of us don’t think about some of the items on the ACEs list as traumatic, but a trauma is a wound, emotional or physical, that requires attention and care to heal. When things happen in our childhood, even things that we might consider small, we need a trusted adult to help us move through it so as not to leave a lasting scar. When those things that happen are at the hands of a trusted adult, the consequences are much more severe.
How Childhood Trauma Therapy Helps Adults
Childhood Trauma Therapy offers a safe and supportive environment for adults to explore their past and work through the emotional wounds left by their experiences. Through various therapeutic approaches, individuals can learn coping mechanisms, establish personal boundaries, and reframe their perceptions about themselves and their past.
Benefits of Childhood Trauma Therapy
The benefits of engaging in Childhood Trauma Therapy can be life-changing. By working through the pain and confusion of a traumatic childhood, individuals often report a significant reduction in symptoms related to trauma, as well as improved overall mental well-being. Therapy also provides the tools necessary to manage triggers and lead a more fulfilling life.
Types of Therapy for Childhood Trauma
There are several evidence-based therapies used specifically for treating childhood trauma in adults. While not exhaustive, these are three highly respected approaches:
Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT)
CBT is based on the premise that our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are interconnected. It focuses on identifying and changing unhelpful ptsd thought patterns and behaviors that contribute to emotional distress and functional impairment. CBT is not completely effective in treating complex PTSD on its own.
However, because of the nature of C-PTSD and its developmental impact on the brain, thought and behavior-based interventions fail to address the underlying autonomic nervous system, which is responsible for our fight or flight responses. By targeting unhelpful thought patterns and behaviors, teaching emotional regulation, and providing coping skills, CBT helps individuals manage their trauma-related symptoms and is an important part of a comprehensive approach that includes EMDR and other types of therapy.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
Like CBT, DBT, developed by Dr. Marsha Linehan, is specifically designed to address symptoms and promote emotional stability. When used as part of a structured trauma-informed approach within the EMDR protocol, DBT can be a valuable tool for trauma healing.
DBT is grounded in the concept of dialectics, which emphasizes the integration of opposites, such as acceptance and change. It combines cognitive-behavioral techniques with mindfulness and acceptance strategies.
By focusing on emotion regulation, interpersonal effectiveness, distress tolerance, mindfulness, and a balance between acceptance and change, DBT is focused on managing trauma and PTSD symptoms and a reduction of self-destructive behaviors as part of the preparation and stabilization phases of trauma-focused therapy.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
Based on the theoretical framework of Adaptive Information Processing, EMDR is a phased approach to trauma treatment. Here’s an explanation of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) in the context of C-PTSD:
- Assessment and Preparation: Before EMDR therapy begins, the therapist works with the patient to establish a sense of safety and trust. Focusing on what’s happening for the patient in the present, the patient can develop helpful resources and grounding skills that allow the patient to increase their distress tolerance and respond to day-to-day situations more effectively. The therapist is learning more about the client’s history as the therapeutic relationship develops, and the patient builds the capacity to discuss their past traumas without feeling as though they are re-living them.
- Target Identification: When the patient has developed sufficient coping and grounding techniques to safely begin to access distressing memories, they will work with their therapist to decide on a specific memory or distressing event to process first. In complex PTSD, it is not recommended to target memories in chronological order because often, the oldest memories are the most painful for the client to recount. Identifying a target that is associated with more.
- Desensitization and Processing Phase: The core of EMDR therapy involves the desensitization phase, where the therapist helps the client process the identified targets. During this phase, the client focuses on the traumatic memory while engaging in bilateral stimulation, which can include following the therapist’s finger movements, tapping, or auditory tones. The goal is to facilitate the brain’s natural healing process and reprocess the traumatic memories. As the traumatic memories are processed, the client may experience a shift in their thoughts and beliefs about themselves and the trauma. Negative self-perceptions transform into more positive and adaptive ones.
- Installation Phase: Positive beliefs and self-statements are “installed” to replace the negative ones. This helps the patient fully embody a positive, objective, and present sense of self, increasing self-esteem and creating a sense of self-efficacy. This also allows the patient to experience positive feelings about themselves and envision a positive life for their future.
- Body Scan: This step allows the patient to identify and process any residual physical tension or sensations associated with the trauma. Traumatic memories include “body memories” that cause pain, uncontrolled muscle spasms or movements, uncomfortable feelings, and other distress. Similar to healthy muscle memories, like learning to walk, these become ingrained into a person’s nervous system.
- Closure: Before ending a therapy session, the therapist helps the patient use calming, grounding resources to ensure that they are able to leave without being overly activated by the work accomplished during the therapy session. This is a critical step as working with traumatic memories is difficult and can cause some distress, and the therapist should be mindful of time and ensure there is enough space before the patient goes back to their daily activities.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing is an evidence-based approach that has shown remarkable success in treating complex post-traumatic stress disorder. EMDR operates on the principle that traumatic experiences can get “stuck” in a person’s memory network, causing distressing C-PTSD symptoms to persist long after the traumatic events have ended. These memories often remain unprocessed and continue to trigger emotional and physical responses.
EMDR helps individuals reprocess these traumatic memories, allowing them to integrate the experiences into their past, freeing them from their debilitating effects, and heal from trauma.
The Effects of Childhood Trauma on Your Mental Health as an Adult
It’s essential to understand how childhood trauma can manifest in adult mental health. By recognizing the signs, individuals can take steps toward seeking the support and healing they deserve.
Understanding the Impact of Childhood Trauma
Childhood trauma can affect various aspects of mental health, leading to conditions such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, chronic health problems, and substance use problems. Childhood trauma can cause difficulties in maintaining healthy relationships, engaging in self-destructive behaviors, and even lead to an increased risk of suicide.
Unhealed childhood trauma manifests itself in our mind and body in ways that we don’t always consciously link to childhood at all. For example, if you feel like you’re making the same mistakes over and over again, you know you want to do things differently, but you can’t seem to stop. It’s likely that this pattern of behavior was learned long before it started impacting your adult life. It’s the adaptation your body and mind created to survive the mistreatment and wounding from your environment during your development.
All children face challenges that they don’t yet have the internal resources and external support to consciously move through in the moment.
Similar the physical scrapes of childhood trying to heal on their own and leaving scars or limps or even lost mobility requiring our bodies to shift the way we move. Our mind creates solutions and thought patterns that allow us to navigate and succeed in a world that has an infinite number of possible experiences and outcomes that we can’t possibly have a predetermined solution for.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Childhood Trauma
PTSD is perhaps the most commonly recognized condition associated with childhood trauma. Trauna and PTSD symptoms can include intrusive memories, nightmares, hypervigilance, and avoiding reminders of the traumatic event. For adults with a history of childhood trauma, these symptoms can be particularly intense and pervasive.
You don’t have to be a victim of abuse to develop PTSD. The ACEs study shows that over 17% of adults in the United States have experienced four or more adverse events during their childhood, which significantly increases one’s risk for PTSD and other mental and physical illness like heart disease, obesity, and even cancer.
How to Find a Qualified Childhood Trauma Therapist for Adults
Navigating the process of finding a therapist who specializes in childhood trauma for adults can be daunting. Here are steps to guide you through the search:
What to Look for in a Childhood Trauma Therapist
When looking for a mental health professional, consider their experience and training in working with adults who have experienced childhood trauma. Look for someone licensed and registered with a recognized counseling or therapy board, and don’t be afraid to ask about their specific approaches and success stories. A great trauma-informed therapist will not go too far too fast into the memories of trauma because if the patient has not built the internal stabilization to help their nervous system realize that they are only remembering, it will be highly triggering and can even feel like they are reliving their trauma.
Finding the Right Therapist for Childhood Trauma in Chandler, AZ
For those in Chandler, Arizona, seeking a therapist, begin by researching local counselors who list childhood trauma as a specialty. It’s essential to feel comfortable with your trauma and PTSD therapist, so consider scheduling a preliminary consultation to ensure the fit is right for you. The importance of feeling heard and validated in therapy cannot be overstated. Childhood trauma often entails being ignored and neglected. Those are the wounds that patients need to heal, and if the therapist is not able to attune to the patient, therapy itself will feel unsafe.
Effective Counseling and Therapy Options for Childhood Trauma
Effective counseling and therapy for childhood trauma include a range of approaches, but the right option for you will depend on your individual needs and preferences. Some individuals may benefit from group therapy, where they can connect with others who have had similar experiences, while others may find solace in one-on-one therapy sessions that allow for more focused attention.
Remember, the path to healing is unique for everyone. The most critical step is reaching out and beginning the process. With the right therapist and the appropriate support, adult survivors of childhood trauma can find relief and reclaim their lives. If you’re experiencing the impact of childhood trauma, reach out to one of our therapists today. We’d love to help.
References:
- About EMDR therapy. EMDR International Association. (2023, October 20).
- Felitti, V. J., Anda, R. F., Nordenberg, D., Williamson, D. F., Spitz, A. M., Edwards, V., Koss, M. P., & Marks, J. S. (1998). Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults. The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. American journal of preventive medicine, 14(4), 245–258.