Trauma is a complicated emotional response. It happens when we witness tragic events like natural disasters, violence, or accidents. What makes trauma so complex is that two people can experience the same event and come out feeling differently. One may be traumatized, while the other is okay. If your teen has experienced a traumatic event, trauma-focused therapy can be beneficial. It will help them understand how the event has impacted their emotional and behavioral health. As a parent or guardian, it is your responsibility to ensure your teen receives appropriate treatment for their trauma.
This article aims to educate parents and guardians on trauma-focused therapy. It will highlight how trauma-focused therapy works and the different approaches it uses. It will also explore the benefits and expected outcomes of trauma-focused therapy at NexStep Teen Academy.
What is Trauma-Focused Therapy?
Trauma-focused therapy is designed to help teenagers who have experienced adverse life events. Specifically, it is a mental health treatment approach that focuses on treating symptoms of trauma. It will help your teen learn to cope with distressing symptoms like flashbacks and night terrors. This treatment approach explores the connection between a traumatic event and its impact on your teen’s emotional, physical, and mental health.
The goal of trauma-focused care is to help teens process their emotions. Trauma-focused therapy equips teens with emotional regulation skills that can help them cope with negative emotions.
The brain has a unique way of dealing with traumatic events. It can suppress the memories of the event or make your teen hypersensitive to triggers. The amygdala, the part of the brain that controls emotions, is more active in teens who have experienced trauma. Even in the absence of danger, the amygdala can activate your teen’s survival response. This means that your teen will become more sensitive to their surroundings as they cannot differentiate between real and perceived threats.
Trauma-focused therapy leverages safety and trust to help the brain process emotions. Therapy is a safe space for teens. Even as they recount their experiences, they learn to differentiate between real and perceived threats. This reduces the hyperactivity of the amygdala and improves your teen’s symptoms.
Approaches Used in Trauma-Focused Therapy
Trauma-focused therapy is comprised of various therapeutic approaches. These include the following:
We have all heard of cognitive behavioral therapy. It is an evidence-based treatment approach that helps teens change the way they think. It allows teens to identify and modify distorted thoughts. TF-CBT is a special type of CBT that focuses on trauma. It is based on the idea that thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are interconnected. Teens who have experienced traumatic events often feel guilty, powerless, or angry. Some blame themselves for being a victim of trauma. TF-CBT helps them dispel distorted thoughts and replace them with more positive ones.
TF-CBT uses principles like cognitive processing to help teens recontextualize negative emotions. It helps teens understand why they have negative thoughts. This technique can be beneficial because it broadens your teen’s perspective. Your teen will learn to look at the traumatic event through a different lens.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
Teen EMDR is a psychotherapy approach that utilizes eye movement to help teens process trauma. It is based on the idea that eye movement can help reduce the emotional impact of trauma. During therapy, your teen will rhythmically move their eyes from left to right while focusing on a distressing memory. The bilateral eye movement will help them reduce the impact of the memory. This enables your teen to heal and reprocess their emotions.
Narrative Therapy
This type of therapy helps teens re-author their life story. It allows teens to deconstruct their fear and gain clarity about their trauma. When your teen experiences trauma, they may let their experience define them. They become stuck in an unhelpful narrative. In other words, trauma becomes their whole identity. Narrative therapy helps them observe their life from a different perspective. It helps them rediscover their identity through deconstruction and reprocessing. Narrative therapy is unique because it allows your teen to take back control of their identity and self-worth.
Prolonged Exposure (PE)
This type of exposure therapy is beneficial for teens with PTSD. It will target your teen’s behavior to help them confront their fears. Teens who have experienced trauma tend to avoid certain places or people. While avoidance can help reduce symptoms of trauma in the short term, it is unhelpful over time. Prolonged exposure enables teens to face their fears head-on instead of relying on avoidance.
Prolonged exposure aims to address negative learned behavior. For example, victims of sexual assault may avoid sexual contact or relationships. This can make them lose touch with friends and struggle to make meaningful connections. PE helps teens reduce their fear. Ultimately, it will improve your teen’s quality of life by assisting them to confront frightening situations.
How Does Trauma-Focused Therapy Work?
Trauma-focused therapy works in several ways. Its process depends on the type of approach chosen. However, all trauma-focused approaches rely on two main principles. These principles are:
Safety and Trust
Your teen’s therapist will ensure they create a safe and supportive environment. Traumatized teens tend to be distrustful of others. The therapist will ensure your teen feels comfortable talking about their experiences. Early therapy sessions focus on building a strong therapeutic relationship by making your teen feel safe. Remember, trauma prevents teens from differentiating between real and perceived threats. This can make it difficult for them to trust others. The therapist will reassure your teen that they are there to help them.
Therapists use various techniques to help teens achieve a sense of security and trust. Grounding exercises help teens stabilize their emotions and manage stress. These activities also help build trust between the therapist and the teen.
Trauma-Processing
Once your teen feels safe and comfortable to talk about their experiences, they can begin processing their trauma. Trauma processing helps teens revisit their experiences in a controlled and safe environment. This helps reduce the impact of the memory. Techniques like exposure therapy gradually expose your teen to distressing experiences to assist them in reframing their thoughts.
Effective trauma processing assists teens in healing. Over time, your teen’s trauma will have no power to influence or impair their daily life.
Benefits of Trauma-Focused Therapy for Teens
Trauma-focused therapy has many benefits. These include the following:
Healing from emotional wounds: Trauma-focused therapy helps teens heal. It does this by assisting them to process their emotions effectively. It also equips them with coping skills to manage their feelings when faced with triggering events.
Strengthening relationships: Traumatized teens tend to self-isolate. They become avoidant because they fear experiencing a traumatic event again. Trauma-focused therapy helps teens to confront their fears. This assists them to reconnect with friends and family.
Developing resilience: Positive coping mechanisms help teens develop emotional resilience. Through gradual exposure, your teen will learn to tolerate difficult thoughts and feelings.
Symptom management: Trauma-focused care decreases traumatic symptoms like anxiety, shame, and intrusive thoughts. As your teen heals, their symptoms will improve.
Improved self-worth: Trauma-focused care teaches teens not to blame themselves for their trauma. This improves their confidence and self-worth.
Treatment at NexStep Teen Academy
NexStep Teen Academy is a premier mental health facility in Arizona that focuses on treating various mental health conditions. We use trauma-focused care to help teens who have experienced traumatic events or those who have PTSD. Our teen outpatient treatment services are tailored to help teenagers cope with the negative effects of trauma. At NexStep, We utilize various treatment approaches to help teens who have experienced trauma. We combine holistic and evidence-based treatment options to ensure comprehensive treatment. Our facility’s tranquil location allows your teen to focus on healing. Our outpatient treatment takes place daily and can be customized to fit your teen’s schedule.
If you wish to enroll your teen at NexStep Teen Academy, contact us today for more information.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How is trauma-focused therapy different from other types of treatment?
Trauma-focused therapy differs from other types of treatment because it focuses on helping teens understand how their trauma has affected them. It teaches them trauma-specific coping mechanisms and promotes healing.
What types of trauma does this therapy address?
Trauma-focused care addresses the following types of trauma:
Acute trauma: This type of trauma stems from a single traumatic event.
Complex trauma: this type of trauma is caused by multiple traumatic experiences, such as domestic violence.
Chronic trauma: It emanates from prolonged traumatic events like childhood abuse.
How long does trauma-focused therapy take?
The treatment period may vary depending on your teen’s progress. Trauma is a complex emotional response that requires expensive treatment. Typically, many trauma-focused therapies take months.
Can parents participate in trauma-focused therapy sessions?
Yes, parents are encouraged to participate in treatment. Having emotional support improves mental health treatment outcomes.
What is Teen Trauma-Focused Therapy?
Table of Contents
Trauma is a complicated emotional response. It happens when we witness tragic events like natural disasters, violence, or accidents. What makes trauma so complex is that two people can experience the same event and come out feeling differently. One may be traumatized, while the other is okay. If your teen has experienced a traumatic event, trauma-focused therapy can be beneficial. It will help them understand how the event has impacted their emotional and behavioral health. As a parent or guardian, it is your responsibility to ensure your teen receives appropriate treatment for their trauma.
This article aims to educate parents and guardians on trauma-focused therapy. It will highlight how trauma-focused therapy works and the different approaches it uses. It will also explore the benefits and expected outcomes of trauma-focused therapy at NexStep Teen Academy.
What is Trauma-Focused Therapy?
Trauma-focused therapy is designed to help teenagers who have experienced adverse life events. Specifically, it is a mental health treatment approach that focuses on treating symptoms of trauma. It will help your teen learn to cope with distressing symptoms like flashbacks and night terrors. This treatment approach explores the connection between a traumatic event and its impact on your teen’s emotional, physical, and mental health.
The goal of trauma-focused care is to help teens process their emotions. Trauma-focused therapy equips teens with emotional regulation skills that can help them cope with negative emotions.
The brain has a unique way of dealing with traumatic events. It can suppress the memories of the event or make your teen hypersensitive to triggers. The amygdala, the part of the brain that controls emotions, is more active in teens who have experienced trauma. Even in the absence of danger, the amygdala can activate your teen’s survival response. This means that your teen will become more sensitive to their surroundings as they cannot differentiate between real and perceived threats.
Trauma-focused therapy leverages safety and trust to help the brain process emotions. Therapy is a safe space for teens. Even as they recount their experiences, they learn to differentiate between real and perceived threats. This reduces the hyperactivity of the amygdala and improves your teen’s symptoms.
Approaches Used in Trauma-Focused Therapy
Trauma-focused therapy is comprised of various therapeutic approaches. These include the following:
Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT)
We have all heard of cognitive behavioral therapy. It is an evidence-based treatment approach that helps teens change the way they think. It allows teens to identify and modify distorted thoughts. TF-CBT is a special type of CBT that focuses on trauma. It is based on the idea that thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are interconnected. Teens who have experienced traumatic events often feel guilty, powerless, or angry. Some blame themselves for being a victim of trauma. TF-CBT helps them dispel distorted thoughts and replace them with more positive ones.
TF-CBT uses principles like cognitive processing to help teens recontextualize negative emotions. It helps teens understand why they have negative thoughts. This technique can be beneficial because it broadens your teen’s perspective. Your teen will learn to look at the traumatic event through a different lens.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
Teen EMDR is a psychotherapy approach that utilizes eye movement to help teens process trauma. It is based on the idea that eye movement can help reduce the emotional impact of trauma. During therapy, your teen will rhythmically move their eyes from left to right while focusing on a distressing memory. The bilateral eye movement will help them reduce the impact of the memory. This enables your teen to heal and reprocess their emotions.
Narrative Therapy
This type of therapy helps teens re-author their life story. It allows teens to deconstruct their fear and gain clarity about their trauma. When your teen experiences trauma, they may let their experience define them. They become stuck in an unhelpful narrative. In other words, trauma becomes their whole identity. Narrative therapy helps them observe their life from a different perspective. It helps them rediscover their identity through deconstruction and reprocessing. Narrative therapy is unique because it allows your teen to take back control of their identity and self-worth.
Prolonged Exposure (PE)
This type of exposure therapy is beneficial for teens with PTSD. It will target your teen’s behavior to help them confront their fears. Teens who have experienced trauma tend to avoid certain places or people. While avoidance can help reduce symptoms of trauma in the short term, it is unhelpful over time. Prolonged exposure enables teens to face their fears head-on instead of relying on avoidance.
Prolonged exposure aims to address negative learned behavior. For example, victims of sexual assault may avoid sexual contact or relationships. This can make them lose touch with friends and struggle to make meaningful connections. PE helps teens reduce their fear. Ultimately, it will improve your teen’s quality of life by assisting them to confront frightening situations.
How Does Trauma-Focused Therapy Work?
Trauma-focused therapy works in several ways. Its process depends on the type of approach chosen. However, all trauma-focused approaches rely on two main principles. These principles are:
Safety and Trust
Your teen’s therapist will ensure they create a safe and supportive environment. Traumatized teens tend to be distrustful of others. The therapist will ensure your teen feels comfortable talking about their experiences. Early therapy sessions focus on building a strong therapeutic relationship by making your teen feel safe. Remember, trauma prevents teens from differentiating between real and perceived threats. This can make it difficult for them to trust others. The therapist will reassure your teen that they are there to help them.
Therapists use various techniques to help teens achieve a sense of security and trust. Grounding exercises help teens stabilize their emotions and manage stress. These activities also help build trust between the therapist and the teen.
Trauma-Processing
Once your teen feels safe and comfortable to talk about their experiences, they can begin processing their trauma. Trauma processing helps teens revisit their experiences in a controlled and safe environment. This helps reduce the impact of the memory. Techniques like exposure therapy gradually expose your teen to distressing experiences to assist them in reframing their thoughts.
Effective trauma processing assists teens in healing. Over time, your teen’s trauma will have no power to influence or impair their daily life.
Benefits of Trauma-Focused Therapy for Teens
Trauma-focused therapy has many benefits. These include the following:
Treatment at NexStep Teen Academy
NexStep Teen Academy is a premier mental health facility in Arizona that focuses on treating various mental health conditions. We use trauma-focused care to help teens who have experienced traumatic events or those who have PTSD. Our teen outpatient treatment services are tailored to help teenagers cope with the negative effects of trauma. At NexStep, We utilize various treatment approaches to help teens who have experienced trauma. We combine holistic and evidence-based treatment options to ensure comprehensive treatment. Our facility’s tranquil location allows your teen to focus on healing. Our outpatient treatment takes place daily and can be customized to fit your teen’s schedule.
If you wish to enroll your teen at NexStep Teen Academy, contact us today for more information.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Trauma-focused therapy differs from other types of treatment because it focuses on helping teens understand how their trauma has affected them. It teaches them trauma-specific coping mechanisms and promotes healing.
Trauma-focused care addresses the following types of trauma:
The treatment period may vary depending on your teen’s progress. Trauma is a complex emotional response that requires expensive treatment. Typically, many trauma-focused therapies take months.
Yes, parents are encouraged to participate in treatment. Having emotional support improves mental health treatment outcomes.