Left untreated, teen trauma and PTSD can have devastating effects on a teen’s mental health. It’s essential to seek teen trauma treatment for post-traumatic stress to avoid the development of other mental health and anxiety disorders.
How to Help Teens with Trauma
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a serious psychological disorder that develops in some people who have been through or witnessed a traumatic event, such as a serious car accident, natural disaster, physical abuse, or sexual abuse. Chronic trauma, such as ongoing abuse, bullying, or violence in the home, can also cause teen PTSD. Severe and frequent anxiety, flashbacks, nightmares, and emotional numbing are just some of the symptoms that consume a young people with PTSD, impairing daily function and stealing joy from their lives.
After a traumatic event, the way in which a parent responds to their teen’s trauma plays a major role in the teen’s ability to process the trauma and heal more quickly. Research shows that positive, encouraging parental support can lessen the symptoms of PTSD. On the other hand, parents who respond with avoidance or overprotection can make teen PTSD symptoms worse.
Along with parent support, teens who have experienced trauma need adolescent trauma treatment as quickly as possible—before trauma progresses into PTSD. Treating trauma in children immediately following the traumatic event can lessen the psychological impact and provide the coping skills they need to regulate their emotions.
How Do I Know If My Teen Has Experienced Trauma?
Teen response to post-traumatic stress tends to fluctuate between independence and insecurity. They may be feeling extreme pain over the traumatic event, but don’t know how to share their feelings with their parents or family members. Many teens will try to hide their true feelings about their trauma, out of embarrassment or simply wanting to pretend it didn’t happen, believing this will make the pain go away.
Here are some additional physical symptoms of teenage trauma:
- Difficulty sleeping
- Secluding themselves from friends and family
- Sudden drop in grades and/or school attendance
- Being hyperalert
- Suffering with severe anxiety and panic attacks
- Avoiding any person or place that reminds them of the trauma
- Numbing out emotionally
- Acting sad, depressed, or hopeless
- Suicidal thoughts or behaviors
How to Talk to Teens About Their Trauma
If a teen’s behavior indicates they may be experiencing trauma or post-traumatic stress disorder, it is time to open the lines of communication. Creating a safe, supportive, open environment is the first step in gaining a teen’s trust. Here are some tips for approaching the topic of teen trauma and making a positive connection with your teen.
- Research the impact of post-traumatic stress on young people. Educating yourself on teen trauma and PTSD will help you approach your teen with understanding and compassion for what they are going through.
- Validate your teen’s feelings and let them know what happened was not their fault, and that it is normal to have emotional ups and downs.
- Listen to your teen without judgment and without giving feedback until they ask for it.
- Avoid shaming or minimizing their feelings in any way.
- Remember, it is common for someone with PTSD to be on the defensive and to respond with agitation or even anger. These are feelings they need to express as they process the trauma, so remain calm and try not to respond negatively out of frustration.
- Never ignore or dismiss suicidal behaviors. Please seek immediate assistance if a teen is expressing suicidal thoughts.
Do not be afraid to seek help for teen trauma from professional mental health experts. Parents can provide support at home while trauma treatment experts help your teen work through the traumatic event and address PTSD symptoms.
Treating Trauma in Childhood
Studies show that children 6 years and under who have suffered trauma have an increased risk for developmental delays, cognitive impairment, mental disorders, and trauma symptoms. These symptoms may include excessive crying, problems sleeping, difficulty regulating emotions and behavior, and separation anxiety.
The need for evidence-based treatments to treat trauma in children and childhood PTSD has increased significantly over the last 20 years. Unfortunately, trauma in younger children and teens is a common occurrence. As many as two-thirds of children report at least one traumatic event by age 16.
Around 30 percent of the 3 million cases reported to US Child Protection Services each year involve trauma in some of the following ways:
- 65 percent neglect
- 18 percent physical abuse
- 10 percent sexual abuse
- 7 percent psychological (mental) abuse
Therapy for childhood trauma and childhood PTSD treatment is critical for long-term healing.
Childhood PTSD and the Need for Treatment
As a child grows and develops into adolescence, their environment has a significant impact on the development of the brain and nervous system. Experiencing constant fear and traumatic stress as a child can impair the immune system and the body’s response to stress. It’s common for children with a history of trauma to develop chronic or recurrent physical ailments, such as headaches or stomachaches, in addition to mental health conditions.
Childhood PTSD treatment and therapy for childhood trauma provides relief from traumatic stress symptoms, while healing the underlying issue. Talk therapy can include Cognitive Processing Therapy or Dialectical Behavioral Therapy for childhood trauma and PTSD. Trauma treatment can help reduce the devastating impact of physical abuse and violence, neglect, natural disasters, and other traumatic events.
Addressing these issues during childhood or adolescence can transform a child’s life. Accessing mental healthcare for teen PTSD reduces the risk of future problems, like anxiety, depression, or chronic health conditions.
The Impact of Adolescent Trauma
Children who have experienced trauma often cannot express or regulate their emotions. Therefore, their reactions to trauma can be unpredictable. Some may internalize their feelings, while others explode in anger. If they don’t learn how to calm and soothe themselves in times of distress, these children can become easily overwhelmed. Additionally, they may have difficulty with problem-solving and other executive functioning skills.
Moreover, without treatment, the negative impact of trauma extends well beyond childhood. Research shows a direct connection between childhood trauma and high-risk behaviors later in life, such as substance use.
The deep impact of trauma on a child or adolescent makes it impossible for a parent or family member to handle on their own. Trauma work is complex and requires the help of a mental health professional who is trained to work with children and teens.
Therefore, children and adolescents who have experienced trauma should have a mental health evaluation to determine the severity of their trauma and the next best steps for teen trauma treatment. An investment in your teen’s mental health can prevent a lifetime of hardship and help them reach their full potential, free from the negative impacts of trauma.
Benefits of Teen Trauma Treatment
Short-Term Benefits
Seeking treatment for teen trauma from a multidisciplinary team of professionals delivers immediate short-term benefits. Teens learn the tools and strategies to manage the debilitating effects of trauma, which can reduce distressing symptoms right away. Our goal at Newport Academy is to build trust with children and teens during regular therapy sessions and experiential therapy sessions, so they feel comfortable sharing their feelings and emotions around the trauma.
Long-Term Benefits
Untreated trauma can lead to additional teen mental health problems, leaving adolescents unable to develop socially and emotionally during this pivotal time in their lives. Without treatment, the likelihood that teens will develop co-occurring disorders, such as depression, anxiety disorders, or a substance use disorder, is exceptionally high. Early-onset trauma treatment can help teens live a full, productive life free from the devastating effects of trauma.
Types of Teen Trauma Treatment at Newport Academy
At Newport Academy, we create a personalized treatment plan for each teen. Depending on location, your teen’s plan will include a variety of these modalities, proven effective in treating teen trauma.
Psychiatric Care and Medication Management
In some cases, teens with post-traumatic stress disorder can benefit from prescribed medication, including anti-anxiety medications and antidepressants to help stabilize chemical imbalances in the brain. At Newport Academy, we believe the use of medication is not the only way or the primary way to treat teen trauma. But medication can provide the calm and focus needed to do deep trauma work in individual and group therapy sessions.
Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT)
TF-CBT is an evidence-based form of talk therapy used as an effective treatment for children ages 3 to 18 with PTSD, for any type of trauma they have experienced. Therapists or psychologists use CBT for teens to reverse the irrational or negative thinking around the trauma. Hence, teens learn to respond to those thoughts in healthier ways and avoid the destructive behaviors common in teens with trauma. TF-CBT sessions gradually expose teens to reminders of the traumatic event and help them develop relaxation and other coping skills.
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)
DBT utilizes a variety of techniques, including mindfulness practices, emotional regulation, and self-acceptance. These approaches help teens with trauma and PTSD to replace negative thought patterns with acceptance and tolerance.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
EMDR is a mental health treatment technique that involves using specific eye movements and guided instructions to access memories about the traumatic event. This supports adolescents to reprocess and repair the mental injury from that memory.
Attachment-Based Family Therapy (ABFT)
ABFT is a foundational element of a teenage trauma treatment plan at Newport Academy. We see family involvement as essential to an adolescent’s treatment and recovery journey. ABFT helps restore trust and connection in the family system, so teens who are suffering from symptoms of PTSD, including suicidal thoughts, feel safe going to their parents for help.
Experiential Therapies
Experiential therapies are incredibly beneficial in treating trauma and other mental health disorders, including anxiety disorders. These include art therapy, music therapy, Adventure Therapy, and Equine-Assisted Therapy. These modalities help teens explore their emotions through creative expression and developing positive, supportive relationships.
Our Approach to Teenage PTSD & Trauma Treatment
At Newport Academy, our approach to teen mental health treatment is comprehensive and tailored specifically to meet the needs of each teen. We believe healing requires a multidisciplinary model that incorporates medical and psychiatric care; individual, group, and family therapy; experiential modalities, and an academic component to nurture teens’ cognitive skills, strengths, and interests.
Our Multidisciplinary Care Team
Treating teen mental health and teen trauma is complex and requires expertise from various disciplines to ensure each piece of a teen’s treatment plan is successful. Therefore, each teen’s trauma treatment team may include a psychiatrist, family therapist, individual therapist, academic teachers and tutors, counselors, and medical experts.
In addition, our Care Coordinators, Program Managers, and Residential Supervisors provide a safe, caring environment in our residential treatment program. And our continuing care planners work with each family to create an optimal after-care plan for teens following treatment. Post-discharge care plans may include outpatient treatment, telehealth, and participation in our alumni program.
Residential and Outpatient Trauma Treatment Programs to Meet Teens Where They Are
Newport Academy has both residential and outpatient locations nationwide for families seeking treatment for psychiatric disorders and post-traumatic stress. Our gender-responsive residential treatment provides comfortable, home-like surroundings, a caring staff, and daily activities to support growth and healing from teen trauma, teen PTSD, and associated mental health conditions.
Our teen outpatient treatment offers three levels of care: Intensive Outpatient Program, Partial Hospitalization Program, and outpatient services. These programs offer a flexible schedule to help teens heal from mental health disorders, including trauma. Programming includes psychiatric care, psychotherapy, and group activities. Our full-day PHP program provides individualized academic instruction, to ensure students progress in their education while receiving the care they need.
Insurances We Work With
We work with most major insurance companies, including both In-Network and out-of-network payers, to optimize access to care for families and teens affected by addiction.
Our Accreditations
Newport holds the Gold Seal of Approval® from The Joint Commission, the nation’s oldest and largest healthcare accrediting body, and is affiliated with a wide range of national organizations and certification bodies.
Additional Articles on Teen Trauma
Our extensive library of resources for parents and professionals provides the latest research on teenage trauma and other teen mental health issues, as well as tips and insight from our thought leaders. Learn more about the multiple facets of trauma and how to support teens who are struggling.
The Difference Between Trauma and PTSD
Learn what distinguishes trauma from post-traumatic stress disorder, the different types of trauma, and how PTSD impairs teen development.
EMDR for Adolescent Trauma and Other Mental Health Conditions
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) supports the brain and body’s natural capacity for healing. Here’s how it works.
Vicarious Trauma and its Impact on Teens
Vicarious trauma, also known as secondary trauma, is a specific form of trauma that is caused by secondhand exposure to traumatic events such as school shootings.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does teenage trauma affect adulthood?
How can I help my child who experienced trauma?
What are the signs of trauma in a child?
What happens if PTSD is left untreated in a child?
How might PTSD in children present differently than PTSD in adults?