Psychotherapy for childhood trauma is an important and sensitive area of mental health treatment. Their experiences in childhood can have long-lasting effects on a person’s emotional, psychological, and social well-being. I provide several approaches to psychotherapy that are effective in treating the effects of negative childhood experiences on adults. This post goes over some of the most widely recognized childhood trauma therapy techniques, including early trauma-focused cognitive therapy. I offer early trauma-focused CBT to adolescents and adults.
Psychotherapy for Childhood Trauma: Techniques
There are three major methods of childhood trauma therapy. Keep in mind that in my integrated practice, we might use these core techniques while mixing in other, more general methods.
Trauma-Focused CBT
The method I use most commonly is trauma-focused CBT. This approach helps adolescents and adults understand the connection between their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. It aims to change negative thought patterns and behaviors resulting from negative experiences. Techniques might include cognitive restructuring, which aims to identify and challenge distorted thoughts; exposure therapy, which provides gradual exposure to painful memories or situations in a controlled way to reduce fear and anxiety; and skills training, which involves teaching coping skills and relaxation techniques. This also involves helping people process and talk about their past experiences.
Note that trauma-focused cognitive therapy is also often delivered to children soon after their trauma experience. However, I do not deliver this service because children are more effectively served in person. I would be happy to refer you to someone who does trauma-focused CBT for children. This type of individual therapy often involves caregivers supporting the child and reinforcing skills learned in therapy.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
EMDR is a therapy that involves recalling painful memories while simultaneously focusing on an external stimulus (like the therapist’s finger moving side to side). This is thought to help reprocess the memory and reduce its emotional impact. EMDR can be a powerful technique, though it is not part of my practice.
Childhood Trauma Therapy for Couples
Involving a partner in therapy can help address dynamics that contribute to or result from the painful memories and their effects. Thus, Couples therapy aims to improve communication and support within the relationship.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Trauma
Originally developed for borderline personality disorder, DBT has been adapted for use with adolescents and adults who have experienced stressful childhood situations. It focuses on teaching mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness.
Childhood Trauma Therapy Considerations
Each person’s experience of negative past occurrences is unique. Thus, therapy should be tailored to their specific needs. A strong, trusting relationship between the therapist and client is essential for effective treatment. I remain aware of and sensitive to the client’s cultural background and how it might influence their experiences and healing.
Psychotherapy for Childhood Trauma in My Practice
Using psychotherapy for childhood trauma effectively requires a multifaceted approach that considers the unique needs of each client. A combination of different therapies might be used to help people process their past, develop healthy coping mechanisms, and lead healthier, more fulfilling lives.
Trauma-Focused Cognitive Therapy for Adolescents Example
Here is a fictitious example of how trauma-focused cognitive therapy might be applied in my practice:
Sarah is a 16-year-old adolescent who was involved in a car accident when she was a child. Since the accident, she has been experiencing occasional nightmares, anxiety, and fear when riding in cars. Now, she is hoping to get her license and has experienced significant stress.
Psychoeducation and Coping Skills
I explain to Sarah about past experiences and their common effects. This helps normalize Sarah’s reactions and reduces stigma or blame. Through trauma-focused cognitive therapy, Sarah learns that her symptoms are a common response to those types of events and that a new change in her life. For her, this includes becoming eligible to get her license.
In addition to trauma-focused cognitive therapy, I teach Sarah relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, and guided imagery. These psychotherapy for childhood trauma techniques help Sarah manage her anxiety symptoms when they arise since she will soon be attending driver’s ed.
Affective Expression and Regulation
The next phase of trauma-focused CBT involves helping Sarah identify and express her feelings related to the painful event. She uses feeling charts and creative writing to explore and discuss her emotions. This helps Sarah understand and manage her emotional responses.
Cognitive Coping and Processing
A core part of trauma-focused cognitive therapy is introducing cognitive coping skills, helping Sarah identify and challenge unhelpful thoughts related to the event. For example, Sarah might believe, “The accident was my fault.” I helped her reframe this thought to something more realistic, such as, “The accident was not my fault. It was an accident.”
Trauma Narrative Development
Sarah creates a past narrative, a detailed account of the event. This can be done through writing, drawing, or storytelling. She gradually shares her narrative with me, which helps desensitize her to the memories. I help Sarah process her feelings and correct any cognitive distortions related to the event.
In Vivo Mastery of Trauma Reminders
Sarah is gradually exposed to reminders of the event in a controlled and safe way. For example, she might start by sitting in a stationary car and visualizing driving safely, then driving for short distances. This helps reduce her fear and avoidance behaviors.
By the end of the therapy, Sarah has shown significant improvement. Her nightmares have reduced, she no longer avoids car rides, and she has regained interest in her usual activities. Her anxiety levels are more manageable. She has developed effective coping strategies to deal with her emotions. Her parents feel more equipped to support her and manage her symptoms if they reoccur.
Childhood Trauma Therapy for Adults Example
Here is a fictitious example of a different type of approach, this one regarding childhood trauma therapy for adults. Trauma-focused cognitive therapy is the most common way I work with adults who experienced trauma when they were children.
Jean is a 26-year-old woman who experienced significant bullying when she was a young adolescent. Now, as an adult, she has lower self-esteem, social anxiety, and fears when she has to present in front of people at work. She just got a new job that she’s excited about, but it will involve making presentations and attending more social gatherings.
Psychoeducation and Coping Skills
I explained to Jean how childhood trauma can have significant effects in adulthood. We review how the effects can differ in different people and how her symptoms likely emerged. This helps normalize Jean’s reactions, reduces stigma or blame, and helps show that her fears may feel real, but there is no real threat.
As an adjunct to trauma-focused cognitive therapy, I teach Jean relaxation and mindfulness techniques such as on-the-spot meditation, deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, positive affirmations, and guided imagery. These techniques help Jean manage her anxiety symptoms, both anticipatory symptoms that she has at home and while driving to work, and the actual symptoms when they arise.
Affective Expression and Regulation
The next phase of childhood trauma therapy involves helping Jean talk about those early experiences in an open, non-judgmental, and confidential way, allowing her to express her feelings related to the trauma freely. She explores her emotions, realizing how powerful and just under the surface they are even this many years later. Trauma-focused CBT also helps Jean see that there is no real threat now and that her fight-or-flight responses are actually related to the past.
Cognitive Coping and Processing
I now introduce cognitive coping and processing skills, helping Jean identify and challenge irrational and exaggerated thoughts related to the bullying. For example, Jean believed that those who were bullying her were “right” about what they were saying and that they were accurately pointing out her weaknesses. Trauma-focused CBT helps her reframe these thoughts, and she realizes that the bullies were merely insecure and likely bullying her to avoid being bullied themselves.
Trauma Narrative Development
The next phase of trauma-focused CBT involves having Jean create a new trauma narrative, a detailed account of the bullying events that reframes what was actually going on. She tells stories from the point of view of the bullies, exploring their own insecurities and needs to bully, separating them from any actual reality of Jean’s traits. This narrative helps her develop a new perspective to replace the one she has been carrying, and it generally works to desensitize her to the painful memories.
In Vivo Mastery of Trauma Reminders
Through storytelling, role plays, and conversation in sessions, Jean is gradually exposed to reminders of the bullying in session. This provides a safe way to get relief. Then, as homework, she also starts exposing herself to challenging situations at work, eating lunch more socially, joining in on conversations, and volunteering to present. During these times, she reminds herself of her chosen new narratives.
About two months into psychotherapy for childhood trauma, Jean is very happy with her progress. While presenting to large groups is still not easy, she finds herself having less anticipatory anxiety. She’s also generally feeling better socially. Her anxiety levels are down, and she feels more hopeful.
These examples illustrate childhood trauma therapy is structured and applied in a real-world scenario. Individual psychotherapy for childhood trauma is designed to be flexible and adapted to each client’s specific needs and circumstances. Through a combination of education, skill-building, cognitive processing, and gradual exposure, childhood trauma therapy helps people heal from the effects of those past experiences.
Psychotherapy for Childhood Trauma in My Practice
My practice may be a good fit if you are specifically looking for trauma-focused cognitive therapy or a more integrated approach. For more information about trauma-focused CBT and how I use it in my practice or general information about possible approaches to psychotherapy for childhood trauma for you or a loved one, please feel free to contact me or schedule a consultation anytime.
