Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can affect anyone, even teens. Trauma treatment at Clearfork Academy gives young adults the tools they need to manage their PTSD symptoms and improve their mental health.
At Clearfork Academy, we offer a safe environment for teenagers to recover from traumatic events. We understand that getting treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder can be difficult for the teenager as well as their family and offer family therapy sessions so that you can understand and support your teenager as best you can.
Post-traumatic stress disorder can seriously affect the behavior and life of teenagers. The teen years are particularly difficult to navigate, and trauma can compound this. A teen may not feel able to communicate how they are feeling or tell people what has happened. This can lead to problems such as substance abuse and conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Sixty-six percent of teens and young adults have been exposed to at least one traumatic event in their lifetime, so it is important to take treatment seriously.
The most common ways to treat teen trauma are through therapies including cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy, cognitive processing therapy, hypnotherapy, and group therapy. These allow you to speak about the trauma in a safe environment and learn coping mechanisms so that you can begin to recover. It is also important to treat any co-occurring conditions, such as addiction.
Traumatic experiences can lead to long-term negative effects, including substance abuse and addiction, PTSD, and other mental health disorders. Trauma can begin to affect a teenager's daily life, including their relationships. This can be due to their behaviors changing in response to the trauma.
For example, their emotional responses may become detached to protect themselves from thoughts and feelings about the event. This can lead them to seem distant and uncaring. Another factor is that the brain is changed by early life stress, which increases the risk of developing unhealthy behaviors later in life. It is therefore important to intervene with professional treatment early.
Trauma can be caused by many different sorts of events, and a specific event may lead to a trauma response in one person but not another. A traumatic event is one that causes a perceived threat to safety and which may put the life of the person or others around them at risk. Examples of trauma that may affect teenagers include:
Events can be one-time things such as the death of a loved one or an ongoing situation such as prolonged physical or sexual abuse.
A traumatic event causes you to go into fight or flight until the perceived danger has passed. This uses up a lot of energy. Symptoms of teen trauma include:
It is normal to experience symptoms of trauma for about one month after a traumatic event, but symptoms can persist for much longer, leading to more serious effects. If you are worried about a teenager because, for example, they are partaking in reckless behavior, substance use, or have persistent depression or anxiety, it may be time to seek treatment.
It is common for people to experience panic attacks after a traumatic event. They are not usually physically dangerous but can seem to be for the traumatized person. It is important to remain understanding if you see someone experiencing a panic attack. Their response may seem out of proportion to what is happening, but it is a normal response to trauma. For those who have experienced trauma, it is possible that the triggers that cause someone to have a panic attack are linked to the event, for example, people, places, or things that are associated with it.
The symptoms of a panic attack can be very scary. People sometimes say that it feels as if they are having a heart attack. Common symptoms include:
These symptoms tend to pass quickly once the panic attack is over. The biggest problem is usually the fear of having another attack which can cause avoidance to become worse. Remember that the panic attack will pass even if it feels like it will last forever. If you are with someone who is experiencing a panic attack, be patient and understanding and let them know that it will pass.
PTSD is considered to be a mental disorder according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5). It is a potential long-term consequence of trauma. Symptoms of PTSD include substance misuse, avoidance syndrome, flashbacks, and nightmares.
When someone recovers from a traumatic event without developing PTSD, they may experience unpleasant emotions when they think about the event, but these will get decrease with time. With PTSD, you may feel that you are back at the scene of the event, and the feelings you experience will be just as intense as when the event happened. This can continue for years after the event.
To get evaluated and diagnosed for teen trauma, you should visit a therapist or psychiatrist. They will be able to conduct the evaluations needed for a diagnosis. Two common tools include the Children's Revised Impact of Event Scale (CRIES-13) and the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale, Child and Adolescent Version (CAPS-CA). Both are validated trauma screening tools that can evaluate trauma and the risk of developing PTSD. The former is used for general use, while the second is suitable for specialist care. Based on these tests, a mental health professional can tell you which steps to take to receive treatment. At Clearfork Academy, our experts will give you the best treatment possible, tailoring your treatment program to your individual needs.
Teen trauma can cause family problems if communication and understanding are not good between the teenager and their family. It is important to be as supportive as possible, letting your teenager know that you are there for them and looking out for signs of trauma because it is possible that you are not aware they have experienced a traumatic event.
Family can help a teenager to recover from a traumatic event, but they can also make things more difficult. Things that can trigger family problems include:
Motivating a teenager to start treatment requires you to be open and understanding with them. Reassure them that you will listen without judgment and only give advice when they ask for it. From a place of care and understanding, it will be easier to support them with getting treatment.
The teen years are a challenging time to process trauma. A teen may not communicate because they:
If you are experiencing teen trauma, you will not feel the way you do forever. With the right trauma treatment, it is possible to recover and live a healthy and happy life. At Clearfork, we provide a safe and wholesome environment for recovery.
As the parent of a teenager who is struggling with trauma, you can:
At Clearfork, we believe that it is important to think about recovery holistically. We provide complementary treatments for trauma in addition to primary ones. These include yoga and alternative therapies such as art and equine therapy.
Clearfork Academy focuses on the needs of teenagers who are struggling with trauma and any co-occurring conditions such as substance abuse and PTSD. We provide a safe environment for you to focus solely on recovery, allowing your family to join specific treatments so that you all get the support you need.