Childhood Trauma Therapist in Charlotte, Matthews NC

If you have experienced childhood trauma and are looking for a mental health care professional to help you overcome this trauma, the best types of therapists are ones that are able to address your specific concerns and needs in the best method possible for you. If they can offer one or more of the best types of therapies for childhood trauma, then they can help you figure out which method will be best suited for your personal experiences.

The best types of therapies for childhood trauma include behavior therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, or more specifically, trauma-based cognitive behavioral therapy. Finding a therapist that has specialized in one or more of those types of therapy is the first step to discovering if that is the right therapist and type of therapy for you.

Childhood trauma can change your behavior and ability to function normally once you reach adulthood. One of the primary changes in behavior or functionality that adults should note as potentially being caused by childhood trauma is if they have experienced having strong and inexplicable reactions to specific people immediately after meeting them. This new person may not have to do anything wrong or actually give you a reason to make you feel as if you should be guarded or weary of them, they could simply be subconsciously reminding you of someone from your childhood that caused you trauma.

This type of feeling that is indicative of childhood trauma can also take place when entering new areas that cause you to feel uneasy, stressed, fearful, or anxious. People, places, and things can trigger past childhood trauma even if they had nothing to do with anything that actually happened.

If you experience a lack of control over your emotions, intense or extreme emotional shifts, has developed an extreme fear of abandonment, are prone to having childish reactions to situations, have developed general anxiety, find yourself unable to cope in stressful situations, or feel constantly exhausted, these may be indicative of untreated childhood trauma. If any of these changes in behavior or ability to function resonate with you as an adult that has experienced childhood trauma, you could benefit from treatment with a mental health professional.

The amount of time it takes for therapy to work for those experiencing childhood trauma is heavily influenced by several factors and cannot be generally predetermined. Most therapists will not be able to give you a specific timeline, at least not before a few therapy sessions since they are not able to predict how you will react to therapy or just how deep the trauma may be.

Some factors that can influence the timeline of healing include what your goals with the therapy are (if you want complete deep healing or just everyday fixes for dealing with triggers), how severe your trauma is, what type of trauma you have experienced (if it was a single event or ongoing), and if the threat of trauma still lingers. It may also depend on your comfort level with your therapist and how long it takes for you to get to a level of trust with them.

With all of this in mind, unless you have very base-level goals for therapy, research suggests that healing childhood trauma will most commonly take around 15 to 30 months, but the timeline should not be the goal. Healing is not something that should be rushed, take the time with your therapist that you need to ensure that you can heal and move forward from trauma in a healthy and proactive manner.

Three commonly discussed types of trauma in childhood include general violence, unexpected disaster, and neglect. General violence can consist of sexual, physical, or emotional abuse, exposure to violence in the home, and more.
Unexpected disaster includes children that have been exposed to war, natural disasters, car or plane crashes, witnessing a death (murder or suicide), school shootings, fires, or hostage situations.

Neglect is reportedly the most common type of child abuse as it comes in many different forms and varies on a much greater scale. Many forms of neglect may seem more insignificant than others, but they all contribute to childhood trauma. Some examples of childhood neglect include situations in which the child does not receive the nourishment, comfort, or love that is needed for proper development, consistent ignoring of a child, not providing proper medical care, withholding love or affection, bullying the child, providing materials for corruption (such as inappropriate books, movies, magazines, etc.), or deceiving the child to the point where they do not feel they can trust you.

Reaching Resolution offers a wide variety of therapies for all patients to ensure that there is someone here at our office that can help you address whatever you need. Ranging from child therapy to marriage counseling, with different approaches to therapy including cognitive, art, or music therapy, there are services offered to help anyone and everyone return to the best versions of themselves with the help of our highly qualified and skilled empathetic team (including our therapy dog, Jax). For more information, contact us today or book an appointment online. We are conveniently located at 9719 Northeast Parkway, Suite 100 Matthews NC 28105. We serve clients from Matthews NC, Charlotte NC, Mint Hill NC, Indian Trail NC, Pineville NC, and Stallings NC.