Dealing with Childhood Trauma

The things we witness or experience as a child often affect us as adults. Some people end up becoming more driven as a way of coping with their issues. Others find it challenging to learn effective ways of dealing with childhood trauma. They end up turning to self-destructive behavior like substance abuse problems. It’s essential that anyone admitting themselves to a treatment program for addiction or mental health disorders dial with childhood trauma.

Understanding Childhood Trauma

There are many ways that childhood trauma takes a toll on us as children. Many young people must live with ongoing stress from living in a dangerous environment. Some find themselves trying to survive a household where they experience abuse from those charged with taking care of them.

Childhood trauma does not always come from ongoing events. A one-time experience can also leave its marks on us as adults, including surviving a natural disaster or living through a car crash or other accident. Most one-time events happen unexpectedly. Leaving the child very little time to process the event that just occurred.

The type of event that may leave us dealing with childhood trauma as adults typically include the following factors:

• The situation happens unexpectedly
• It repeatedly continues for an extended period
• A child finds themselves unprepared for the experience
• Someone deliberately inflicted harmful behavior

Witnessing the effects of abuse on others who live with them can be equally traumatic for a child. They may be emotionally scarred from watching a parent live through physical abuse or witness them being harmed in other ways. There is no telling how traumatic events can affect a person in the future. Many people do not address childhood trauma until much later in their adult lives. They live with the trauma or bury it inside and suppress it over the years.

Impacts of Childhood Trauma

If an adult doesn’t have an effective way of dealing with childhood trauma, they run the risk of developing more severe mental health disorders. Childhood trauma may evolve into post-traumatic stress syndrome in adults. They may also experience physical fallout from the incident, including:

• Heart problems
• Stroke
• Cancer
• Obesity

Without dealing with childhood trauma, a person may experience other physical issues like elevated responses to stressful situations, the development of autoimmune diseases, and other chronic health problems.

Some people find themselves driven to indulge in risky behavior as a way of coping with the memories of their experience. They may start drinking, using drugs, and getting involved in criminal activities. That could lead to situations like going to jail, ending up in the hospital, or even death. Anyone entering a treatment program for issues related to addiction should receive a thorough evaluation of any unaddressed childhood trauma.

Why It Pays to Get Help with Childhood Trauma

It’s often difficult for people to admit to the extent of how much they are affected by issues from their childhood. They may be resistant to the idea of getting help in dealing with childhood trauma. It’s easier for them to throw themselves into other activities that distract them from their problems.

Serenity Light Recovery provides a safe environment for exploring issues associated with childhood trauma. While we offer a program specifically for treating mental health disorders, we assess each client admitted to our facility for other problems tied to substance abuse and addiction disorders. Some of the therapy options we offer to help deal with childhood trauma include:

• Individual Therapy Program
• Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Program
• Dialectical Behavior Therapy Program
• Trauma-Informed Care
• Trauma Therapy Program

You can get the help you need today. Find out more about the help offered at Serenity Light Recovery by calling us at (281) 431-6700.