The teenage years are an exciting and difficult time, with new emotions and sensations happening nearly every day. For teens who struggle with a traumatic event, it can negatively impact their development and education. Coping with trauma take working with a certified therapist who has experience working with teens who are struggling to cope with the traumatic event. If left untreated, your teen may struggle to keep up with schoolwork, start drinking or using drugs, or develop depression, PTSD, or other mental health disorders.
At Imagine Boise, we work with teens between the ages of 12 and 17 who are struggling with recent or early childhood trauma. Our team specializes in working with teens who are affected by a traumatic incident and need help coping with their feelings. We teach teens new coping strategies for trauma through group and private therapy sessions led by a certified behavioral therapist. For more information about our adolescent trauma therapy program, call 888.597.2807 today to speak with one of our caring team members.
Healthy Coping Mechanisms for Trauma
A traumatic experience can be anything from sudden death in the family to natural disasters or parental emotional, physical, or sexual assault. In many cases, the effects of the trauma do not begin to produce visible symptoms for several years. For example, memories of a traumatic event at five years old can suddenly show up in their teenage years and into adulthood.
If you are worried your teen is struggling with a past or more recent trauma, here are some of the common signs of trauma in teens:
- Experiencing frequent nightmares or flashbacks of the event
- Being easily startled
- Trouble focusing
- Insomnia
- Decreasing self-esteem
- Irrational outbursts
- Depression
- Suicidal thoughts
The best way to help your teen son or daughter is by enrolling them in a treatment program to learn healthy coping mechanisms for trauma. Teens learn new ways to process the trauma in a safe space using a variety of behavioral techniques that break the association between their thoughts and the behaviors they create.
At Imagine Boise, we specialize in childhood trauma coping mechanisms in teens at our discreet facility in Boise. We create a whole-person recovery experience by including all family members so that there are no lingering issues that can get in the way of recovery.
5 Ways for Coping With Trauma
Coping with trauma can take several weeks to months to develop healthy coping skills and improved self-esteem. Teens who talk with a therapist about the traumatic experience will have an easier time coping with their symptoms and reduce the impact it has on their development and education.
Here are five ways for coping with trauma that can benefit your teen’s development:
- Learn about the trauma – In many cases, teens will block out the trauma and may even forget it happened or recall the event differently. One of the first steps in developing coping strategies for teens is uncovering the original trauma and facing it head-on. Once they do this, true healing can begin.
- Practice meditation – Meditation is an excellent tool for calming racing thoughts and developing a deeper connection with self. It can also help teens cope with past trauma by understanding how it is impacting their current thinking and behaviors.
- Talking with others – Teens often don’t have the communication skills to effectively tell someone what they are feeling. Having regular conversations with your teen about their feelings and how they relate to the trauma can help them learn to cope. This can also help others in the family who are affected by the trauma.
- Daily journaling – Another strategy for coping with trauma includes daily journaling. This allows teens to recall troubling emotions and reflect on how it impacts them and can go a long way toward understanding what triggers their trauma symptoms.
- Enroll in an adolescent trauma therapy program – This step is essential for teens and their families and teaches teens healthy coping skills, builds their self-esteem, and creates a stronger family bond.
These are just a few of the coping strategies for trauma in teens that they can use to cope with their trauma. During therapy, they will also learn other healthy life skills that will allow them to manage their symptoms and triggers confidently.
Enroll in an Adolescent Trauma Therapy Program at Imagine Boise
Developing healthy childhood trauma coping mechanisms in teens is imperative if they want to excel in their education and peer relationships and have a productive and happy future. At Imagine Boise, we welcome teens and their families who are dealing with past trauma and need help coping with the aftermath. Each of our programs is tailored to the individual and can include:
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy
- Dialectical behavior therapy
- Group and private therapy sessions
- Medication management
- Family therapy
If your teen son or daughter’s education and development are impacted by past or recent trauma, call 888.597.2807 today or reach out online to speak with our compassionate team.