Is Your Teen or Young Adult Experiencing the Effects of Trauma?
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Have you notice your teen or young adult becoming more withdrawn & isolating more and want to know how to help?
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Has your teen or young adult started avoiding certain events or social situations that remind them of the trauma?
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Has your teenager or young adult become hyper aware of their environment so much so that it takes a lot of their attention?
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Do you find your teen or young adult struggling with feelings of worthlessness and they talk about how they now feel unlovable because of the trauma?
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Do you notice your teen or young adult is physically present, but their mind is tuned out from the environment?
Trauma can come in many different forms. And teens and young adults all respond differently to the same traumatic experiences.
One thing that is common among teens and young adult who start trauma therapy or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) treatment is that the traumatic experience has significantly altered their ability to live life.
At Sugar Land Teen & Family Counseling, we have experienced teen therapists and young adult counselors who treat trauma and PTSD. We have several therapeutic approaches that are supported by research and shown to be effective.
If you are ready to tackle the trauma and take control of it rather than it have control of you, we are here to help.
Signs of Trauma or PTSD in Teenagers & Young Adults
Teens and young adults who experience trauma could experience the same exact traumatic experience and have very different outcomes. Some who experience the traumatic experience may develop symptoms related to trauma or PTSD. While others may not.
Signs to look for if you are concerned that your teen or young adult has experienced a traumatic event are as follows:
Signs of Trauma or PTSD
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Signs of traumatic stress must be present more than a month following the traumatic exposure, although they also may not develop until more than 6 months later in a smaller percentage of the population,
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Signs include multiple forms of intrusive symptoms of the traumatic event (memories, dreams, flashbacks),
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Avoidance of stimuli reminding the individual of the trauma,
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Negative changes in thoughts/mood since the trauma (i.e., persistent negative beliefs about the world, distortions about cause of trauma), and
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Physiological reactivity (i.e., increased startle response, irritable behavior, hypervigilance, sleep problems, concentration problems).
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Thoughts or comments about death, not wanting to be around any longer, or suicide.
What Does Trauma or PTSD Look Like in Teenagers & Young Adults?
While the above describe how trauma affects a teenager or young adult, what does trauma look like in the day-to-day life of a teen or young adult?
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During the teen and young adult years, teens and young adults are experiencing mood swings. It's basic knowledge that teens are "moody" or "edgy".
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When teens or young adults experience a traumatic event, these emotions become more intense and unpredictable. They may appear happy and fine one moment and the next moment they may seem anxious, depressed, or overwhelmed.
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Teens and young adults are typically social creatures. And those who are not still like to socialize but maybe in smaller and more well-defined groups.
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Teens and young adults who experience trauma may choose to be alone more often. They may resist attending certain family functions or other social outings even if it only barely reminds them of the trauma they experienced.
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Depending on the nature of the traumatic event, teens and young adults may struggle with trusting other people. They may not feel safe around others and question motives and intention on a regular basis.
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Trauma can also cause academic problems. Grades and attendance may drop as they are working through the painful aspects of trauma.
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Some teens and young adults who experience trauma may become hypervigilant. The fear network in the brain is on overdrive looking for danger in the environment. You may also notice that their startle response has become more sensitive.
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Your teen or young adult may become emotionally numb.
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They may also disassociate. An example of dissociation is like when you drive home from somewhere, pull in the driveway or parking lot, and don't remember how you got home as your mind was elsewhere.
A Word, Maybe a Caution, About Trauma
Mentioned above is that teenagers and young adults may experience the same exact trauma but have completely different responses. Those responses can range from an intense reaction and the development of PTSD to little reaction and no trauma injury occurs.
What is traumatic to one person may not be traumatic to another. This may be because of their upbringing, family and social support, personality, age at the time, developmental stage, and a host of other factors.
As parents, our teen or young adult may approach us stating that they have experienced a traumatic incident. To some parents, the incident that they describe may not seem traumatic.
For example, your teen may approach you about being bullied. As a parent, if you have noticed any of the signs above, this may have been a traumatic experience for your teen. Another teen may be bullied in the same way by the same person and not experience trauma.
If your teen or young adult comes to you about feeling traumatized, err on the side of safety and explore with them their experience. And when in doubt, you can seek support from a teen counselor or young adult therapist who specializes in trauma therapy and PTSD treatment.
The Sugar Land Teen & Family Counseling Approach to Trauma Therapy & PTSD Treatment
At Sugar Land Teen & Family Counseling, we have therapists who are experienced in trauma treatment and PTSD therapy.
Our Owner & Lead Clinician worked with teen girls who had experience complex and developmental trauma from 2014-2021. He has been working with teens and young adults who have experienced trauma in private practice since 2020.
He is a teen therapist and young adult counselor trained in Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR) and is Board Certified in Neurofeedback. Both effective approaches in trauma therapy and PTSD treatment.
We have other therapists who are trained in EMDR as well as Trauma Focused -Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT). Between EMDR, TF-CBT, Neurofeedback, and other approaches, there is an approach that is right for you.
These approaches have helped other teens and young adults overcome the effects of trauma. And they can help you to!
What is Holding You Back from Starting Trauma Therapy or PTSD Treatment?
There is a good reason why teens and young adults avoid people, places, and things that remind them of the traumatic experience. There is also a good reason why it can be hard to start trauma treatment and PTSD therapy.
Our bodies are hard wired to avoid pain. If we are seeing a stove for the first time and place our hand on the burner, we are likely to never do that again!
Our minds are no different in terms of emotions. We want to avoid those emotions that cause us emotional pain. To talk to a teen counselor or young adult therapist about the traumatic event will certainly bring up painful emotions.
And we can only avoid for so long before the signs of trauma start to wreck our own personal world.
At Sugar Land Teen & Family Counseling, we understand the desire to avoid emotional pain related to the traumatic experience. This is why we have approaches like EMDR and Neurofeedback that are different kinds of trauma therapy and PTSD treatment compared to talk therapy.
EMDR and neurofeedback do not require the teen or young adult to rehash the traumatic experience. In EMDR, they only need to provide a description of the experience one time. And with neurofeedback, as it is brain training, there is no need to provide a description of the traumatic experience.
And we do have talk therapy approaches like Trauma Focused - Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) for those teens and young adults who prefer to resolve the traumatic experiences through talk therapy.
If you are ready to begin trauma treatment or PTSD therapy, we have the therapists and approaches that can help. Take the first step and reach out to talk with one of our caring therapists today.
Begin Trauma Therapy or PTSD Treatment at Sugar Land Teen & Family Counseling in Sugar Land, TX
You don't have to live with the impact of trauma any longer. We have teen therapists and young adult counselors who have experience in helping teens and young adults through and out of trauma.
Our therapists also have the specialized training in therapeutic approaches for trauma and PTSD that are supported by research and shown to be effective.
Our Sugar Land, TX office of Sugar Land Teen & Family Counseling, is conveniently located off of US 90 and Dairy Ashford Road in Sugar Land, Texas.
We also have a Katy, Texas location. Katy Teen & Family Counseling is just off of I-10 and south on 99.
If you are ready to meet with one of our young adult counseling specialists, all you have to do is follow these 3 simple steps:
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Contact Sugar Land Teen & Family Counseling.
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Talk with one of our caring therapists.
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Start today to learn to overcome these challenges.
Other Services Offered at Sugar Land Teen & Family Counseling Sugar Land, TX
Neurofeedback For:
Neurofeedback for Social Anxiety
Peak performance (optimal academic brain performance)
Peak performance (optimal athletic brain performance)
Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART)
Trauma Therapy
Depression Counseling
Therapy for Anxiety
Therapy for Social Anxiety
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR therapy) For:
Teen trauma treatment
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) For: