8 Strategies For Effective Trauma

Recovery  
This is a guest post by Denisa Millette

As a forensic expert on childhood trauma assessment, I frequently work with children

whose lives have been shattered by a traumatic event and are now dominated by a
constant sense of danger and frightening emotions.

Many of them avoid social interactions and may isolate themselves.  They are likely
to see themselves as bad and unworthy, and may be at risk for harming themselves.

Some are often viewed by others as being irritable, hostile, or aggressive.  These
children may get into trouble at home or at school for their behavioral problems. 
Their normal daily functioning is commonly disrupted by intrusive and persistent
recollections and sensory re-experiencing of the traumatic event.

In addition, they may appear emotionally detached, unable to trust other people, and
avoid negative emotions.  In cases of sexual abuse, the victims may tend to have
sexual fears and unwanted sexual feelings and behaviors.
What is Childhood Trauma?
Childhood trauma can be caused by any situation perceived by the child as frightening
and/or overwhelming, and during which the child feels scared and helpless.  This
situation is often just a one-time event, such as an injury or a natural disaster.

But it could also be a long-term ongoing stress, such as physical, sexual, or verbal

abuse, neglect, exposure to domestic violence, or chronic illness.  All such events
have a potential to bring on symptoms of emotional and psychological trauma.

Some of the most frequent and well-known psychological and emotional symptoms of
trauma include:

 Depression
 Anxiety
 Anger/aggression
 Dissociation
  Confusion, shock, and denial
 Guilt and shame

It appears to be less known that a traumatic experience can also manifest itself in a
form of physiological symptoms such as:

 Sleep problems
 Fatigue and lack of energy
 Aches and Pains
 Muscle Tension
 Racing Heartbeat
 Lack of focus and concentration

Risk of Future Trauma in Adults and Children

Research shows that experiencing childhood trauma can have very negative, long
lasting impact on the individual’s emotional, psychological, and physiological well-
being in adulthood, especially if not resolved.
Specifically, childhood trauma has been associated with various forms of emotion
dysregulation, including stress-reactivity, which is believed to be one of the
mechanisms underlying the link between childhood trauma and psychological
disorders.

For example, research shows that individuals with more severe histories of emotional
abuse showed stronger stress-reactivity for anxiety. (1)  Individuals with a history of
childhood trauma also reported significantly increased emotional reactivity to daily
life stress, especially if the trauma event occurred before the age of 10 years. (2)

Research also show that childhood emotional trauma has more influence on
interpersonal problems in adult patients with depression and anxiety disorders than
childhood physical trauma.

A history of childhood physical abuse is related to dominant interpersonal patterns

rather than submissive interpersonal patterns in adulthood. These findings provide
preliminary evidence that childhood trauma might substantially contribute to
interpersonal problems in adulthood. (3)
Trauma and Brain Development:
The brain and the immune system are not fully formed at birth but rather continue to
mature in response to the postnatal environment. The two-way interaction between
brain and immune system makes it possible for childhood psychosocial stressors to
affect immune system development, which in turn can affect brain development and
its long-term functioning.

Early-life stress predicts later inflammation, and there are striking analogies between
the neurobiological correlates of early-life stress and of inflammation. These findings
suggest new strategies to remediate the effect of childhood trauma before the onset of
clinical symptoms, such as anti-inflammatory interventions. (4)

Furthermore, there is considerable evidence to suggest that adverse early-life

experiences have a profound effect on the developing brain. Children who are
exposed to sexual or physical abuse or the death of a parent are at higher risk for
development of depressive and anxiety disorders later in life.

Preclinical and clinical studies have shown that repeated early-life stress leads to
alterations in central neurobiological systems, particularly in the corticotropin-
releasing factor system, leading to increased responsiveness to stress. Clearly,
exposure to early-life stressors leads to neurobiological changes that increase the risk
of psychopathology in both children and adults.
Stress Sensitivity
Additionally, childhood trauma is associated with heightened social stress sensitivity
and may contribute to psychotic and affective dysregulation later in life, through a
sensitized paranoid and stress response to social stressors. (5)

As presented above, substantial number of studies show associations between early

life stress and risk for mental and somatic diseases in later life. Potentially, these
findings will allow unprecedented opportunities to improve the precision of current
clinical diagnostic tools and the success of interventions.

As of now, we have only limited information about how childhood exposure to

traumatic stress is translated into biological risk for psychopathology. Observational
human studies and experimental animal models suggest that childhood exposure to
traumatic stress can trigger an enduring systemic inflammatory response not unlike
the bodily response to physical injury.
In turn, these hidden wounds of childhood trauma can affect brain development, key
behavioral domains (e.g., cognition, positive valence systems, negative valence
systems), reactivity to subsequent stressors, and, ultimately, risk for
psychopathology. (6)