Recovering from Childhood Trauma

A tragic reality is that childhood and adolescent traumatic events do occur. These can be events such as physical abuse, sexual abuse, domestic violence, rape, violent crimes, community violence, natural disasters, terrorism, and the death of a loved one. Traumatic events can have long lasting effects, even into adulthood, if not addressed early. The effects of traumatic events can cause serious mental and behavioral dysfunction including:

– PTSD symptoms
– depression
– behavior problems
– anxiety
– sexualized behaviors
– interpersonal distrust
– social skills problems
– damaged or misplaced self esteem

TF-CBT (Trauma Focused -Cognitive Behavior Therapy) is a short term, researched treatment that helps children and families recover from the negative effects of traumatic events. TF-CBT has been known to work in as few as 12 individual/family sessions depending on the child and family needs. Sessions would include individual sessions for the child and also critical parent-child sessions that focus on relationship building. Your therapist will help you through the process using the acronym P.R.A.C.T.I.C.E .

P- Psychoeducation/parenting skills
R- Relaxation and stress management
A- Affective expression and modulation
C- Cognitive coping and processing
T- Trauma narrative
I- In vivo mastery/cognitive processing
C- Conjoint child parent sessions
E- Enhancing future safety and development/behavior management

If it sounds complicated – not to worry – your therapist will help you through each step to move the child and family through trauma and on to the road to recovery. As a parent, the first step is to get help. If your child appears to be struggling following a traumatic event, call 402-325-0117 to make an appointment.