Traumatic experiences are a relatively common part of everyday life. More than half of all Americans will live through such an experience as children, teens, or adults. The right kind of therapy can help most people overcome the effects of lingering trauma. However, teens often need different types of help than adults. You can enroll your child in a specialized adolescent trauma therapy program to meet this need. Programs like this usually involve many trauma therapy activities teens can benefit from as they participate. Call 888.291.2309 to speak with someone from the knowledgeable and compassionate staff at Imagine Fort Collins about the effects of trauma exposure on teens and how we can help your child.
The Potential Effects of Trauma Exposure
A traumatic experience can profoundly affect your teenager. As a rule, this happens when short-term trauma reactions such as fear and shock don’t fade with time. Instead, they set the stage for lasting, negative impacts on day-to-day thoughts, emotions, and behavior.
When left untreated, these impacts can lead to several mental health conditions. Common examples of these conditions include:
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Anxiety disorders
- Major depression and other depressive disorders
Teens are more susceptible to trauma than adults. This is true, in large part, because teenagers have yet to develop their capacity to tolerate extreme stress.
How Therapy Helps Trauma: The Benefits of Treatment
Therapy is a well-recognized tool for overcoming lingering trauma. It plays a central role in the typical recovery program. With its help, your child can:
- Get a better understanding of trauma and its effects
- Spot specific ways in which lingering trauma alters thought, emotion, and behavior
- Gradually ease the intensity of ongoing trauma reactions
- Re-establish a sense of health and wellness
Therapy can also help your teen cope with future situations that could re-trigger old trauma reactions.
5 Best Therapy Techniques for Trauma
The best therapy techniques for trauma fit your teen’s specific needs. Many of these techniques are part of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). The trauma-focused subtype of this therapy (TF-CBT) is designed to help teens and younger children. TF-CBT is evidence-based. This means that it’s proven to work for most people who receive it. The therapy can help your teen recover from the effects of a single traumatic episode. It also promotes recovery from multiple episodes and exposure to a long-term source of ongoing trauma.
Therapists use many trauma therapy techniques to support your child’s mental health recovery. Some of the most common techniques include:
- Trauma psychoeducation
- Relaxation exercises
- Positive imagery
- Feelings identification
- Thought stopping
Psychoeducation helps you and your teen better understand trauma’s causes and effects. Relaxation exercises give your teen a way to defuse stress and ease trauma reactions. Positive imagery promotes well-being by helping your child envision a safe, calm place in the mind. Feelings identification promotes a better understanding of various emotional states. It also helps your teen notice, label, and express these states as they arise. Your child can use thought-stopping to prevent a downward spiral into negativity.
Learn More About How Therapy Helps Trauma in Colorado at Imagine Fort Collins
Want to know more about helpful trauma therapy techniques for teenagers? Talk to the experts at Imagine Fort Collins. We can explain how and why specific techniques work. We can also help you determine if your teen needs the support provided by trauma therapy.
At Imagine Fort Collins, we specialize in trauma therapy for adolescents. We rely on customized therapy plans to promote recovery from various mental health issues daily. Contact Imagine Fort Collins today at 888.291.2309 for more information on our evidence-based approach. We’re also available through our online contact form.