Addressing Childhood Family Trauma As An Adult
When we’re young, we often don’t realize the impact that the experiences and situations we experience in our childhood can have on us. As we mature and gain more knowledge of the world around us, we sometimes start to notice the influences of our childhood on our adult life.
Understanding Childhood Family Trauma
Any upsetting event that happens in a family during a child's early years, and has a long-lasting effect on the emotional and psychological health of that child, is childhood family trauma. This can involve neglect, experiencing physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, seeing marital violence, or being raised in a home where substance use or mental illness happened. Other events such as emotional invalidation, or a lack of love and support can also result in trauma. The nature of the traumatic events, the age at which they happened, and the existence (or lack of) supportive relationships during childhood can all have an impact on the depth of trauma and how the person copes with the trauma. Some people may have trauma buried deep, while others may live with it as a painful, ongoing reality.
Some aspects of life that trauma can spill into are:
Difficulties With Emotion Regulation: Adults who suffered trauma as children may find it difficult to control their emotions, which can cause severe mood swings, anxiety, or a sense of emptiness.
Self-Esteem Problems: Trauma during childhood can harm one's sense of self-worth and cause emotions of shame, remorse, or worthlessness.
Relationship Difficulties: Attachment styles can be impacted by trauma, which can make it challenging to establish and keep positive, trustworthy relationships.
Addressing The Trauma In Your Adult Life
Recognizing that childhood trauma happened and its effects on your life is the first, and often most difficult step towards healing from it. Since it involves facing memories and feelings that may have been repressed for years, the process can be difficult. But in order to start the healing process, facing trauma allows a person to see how these earlier events have influenced their present-day emotions, ideas, and actions. Survivors of childhood trauma sometimes downplay or explain away their experiences, often because of feelings of guilt or shame. One of the most important steps in the healing process is to remind yourself that what happened was not your fault and that you are entitled to experience your feelings.
A solid network of family, friends, or support groups can be helpful during the recovery process. When you most need emotional support, confiding in trusted people about your experiences can help you feel less alone. Online and in-person support groups provide a forum for individuals to interact with one another via shared experiences, promoting empathy and a sense of community. It's important to select a good support network. Those that are kind, nonjudgmental, and supportive of your healing process are key players in the healing process.
Another essential technique for treating childhood trauma is therapy. An experienced therapist can offer a secure, encouraging setting where you can examine your prior experiences, work through your feelings, and create coping mechanisms. A few of the therapeutic approaches that we at Healing Voices Psychotherapy provide are:
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy: this helps people to recognise and combat trauma-related cognitive processes and harmful thought patterns. It also gives useful knowledge and teaches skills on how to control symptoms of depression, anxiety, and other conditions.
Trauma Therapy: this approach is specifically designed to address the trauma’s impact, while using techniques to help individuals process and heal from their experiences.
We can help.
We know that it can be difficult and daunting to face the avoided feelings and memories of childhood trauma, and we want to help support you in your journey to wellness. Book a free 15-minute consultation with us to see if we’re what you’ve been looking for, or contact us!
