Have you recently gone through a divorce? Are there children involved? Have you noticed some changes in your child's personality since the divorce? Children are not always good at expressing their feelings. If you don't do something to help your child, he or she could become emotionally imbalanced and have difficulties in school and at home. Visit our site to learn how to get your child into counseling to learn how to open up and share his or her feelings. Hopefully, you can help your child find comfort during a very difficult time in his or her life and learn to deal with emotions properly.
counseling a child going through a divorce
How To Help Your Teen Deal With Traumatic Experiences
Carter Mccoy
No one likes to see their teenager go through a traumatic experience, but not everyone knows how to help their teen deal with the aftermath of that experience. Each situation will be different, but in general, as a parent, you have to provide solid background support as the teen seeks to process the trauma. That includes validating their feelings, realizing that healing from trauma may not look like you'd expect it to, and finding a good therapist for the teen to see.
Acknowledge It
You've got to acknowledge that the teen went through trauma. Too many people try to brush off a traumatic event and say that it's over, so now they can get back to "normal." Avoid that sentiment; instead, let the teen know that their feelings are valid and that the event was traumatic. Just that validation alone can help the teen start processing the event, although they should still go to see a therapist to learn how to deal with the feelings brought on by the trauma.
Don't Tell Them They'll "Get Over It"
Something you need to understand about trauma is that you don't get over it or put it behind you, never to be thought of again. If it's traumatic enough to make someone appear stuck in a loop, forever thinking about it, then it's not something they can forget. But traumatic events can be processed so that the teen has a more detached view of what happened and what it all means and where the teen should go from there. The teen will likely not forget, but with the right treatment, the trauma moves out of the foreground in their mind, and it becomes easier to move forward.
Help Them Find Assistance for Things You Can't Help With
Your teen might want to talk to you about the trauma or they might not; either way is normal. But if you don't think you're the right person for them to talk to, help them find someone who can help. First, be kind. Don't cut them off or order them not to talk to you about it. Let them know that you're sorry they experienced what they did and that you might not be the best person to help them process the situation, but that you'll help them look for someone who can. There are many therapists who work with teens who have experienced trauma, and you and your teen should, together, find someone the teen is comfortable speaking with. Note that the teen may still want to ask you questions (because you're their parent), and it's good to sit and talk about things in general or about times you've had to deal with awful situations.
Trauma treatment for teens helps them process what happened and move forward. The treatment can't erase the trauma from the teen's life, but it can help the teen develop skills and insights to let them continue with their life instead of staying stuck in the loop that trauma can cause.
Contact a local trauma treatment program for teens to learn more.
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