Childhood trauma may contribute to many mental and emotional problems which do not arise until later in life. The effects of child trauma are many, and they are nuanced depending on the trauma and the child themselves. If a child comes from a home that does not provide a sense of security and protection for that child, they may resort to developing their own forms of coping mechanisms allowing them to function day-to-day just to survive.
The way we are raised and the sense of security it creates (or shatters), all impact the emotional, and sometimes physical path, we take as adults.
Having stability in knowing you are protected by your family allows you to form solid and safe relationships later in life.
Adults that survived childhood trauma may have trouble regulating their emotions and have difficulty in relationships, as well as have poor memory and low self-esteem.
Childhood trauma can take many forms:
As adults, people often are unable to process these traumatic childhood experiences, such that trauma can also affect an adult’s long-term health by manifesting in addiction, mental health disorders, or chronic illness. One of the most devastating impacts of childhood trauma on adults is the effect it has on self-image.
Some other examples of the negative symptoms that stem from childhood trauma are:
EMOTIONAL SYMPTOMS:
PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS:
BEHAVIORAL SYMPTOMS:
Like self-image, adult relationships are frequently another casualty of childhood trauma. Research affirms that childhood trauma can cause people to avoid relationships altogether or seek not-entirely-healthy relationships in adulthood. Experiencing trauma in childhood can impact the way that you form attachments in romantic relationships.
Left unchecked and unresolved, childhood trauma can impact both personal beliefs and personal relationships when you're an adult. Childhood traumas in adults can cause one to genuinely view themselves as undeserving of loving, supportive, and healthy relationships.
Moreover, they may view themselves as unworthy of accomplishments, thus leading to a lack of drive and ambition. In other words, child trauma in adults can make survivors can feel alone, unlovable, and directionless in adulthood.
However, it doesn’t have to stay like that, therapy or counselling can provide healing techniques from child trauma in adults. I understand that life presents unique challenges to everyone. No matter who you are or what you’ve been through, your past does not define you, nor does it have to determine the rest of your life.
There are different ways of addressing childhood trauma depending on the level and type of trauma. There are two broad categories of traumatic events:
Small ‘t’ traumas are an accumulation of negative events or experiences in everyday life such as mother/father wound – attachment trauma or loss of a parent in childhood.
Big ‘T’ trauma refers to e.g., terrorism, being exposed to combat and war, sexual abuse, significant accidents, or a natural disaster. Big T trauma is often accompanied by symptoms of PTSD such as flashbacks, intrusive thoughts, nightmares, fragmented memory, and other experiences of as if you are reliving the traumatic experience in the present time. Not everyone who has experienced this type of events develops PTSD.
Together, in Therapy, we will work on initially understanding how these childhood experiences have impacted you in the past and their manifestations in the present. Together, we will examine how you experienced these as a child and what kind of feelings arise as you now look at the experiences through an adult lens.
