Adolescence is a scary period but even more so for teens who are trauma
survivors. Trauma can make it difficult to parse out what
could be normal adolescent development, with all the angst and struggles to separate
and mature, versus what impact the history of trauma may be having on the
teen. However, I am going to try and
provide some insight into what may be going on and how it impacts teens’
ability to develop healthy relationships.
Development
In his recent book, Brainstorm:
the power and purpose of the teenage brain, Dr. Daniel Siegel describes
the overall movement of the teen’s brain to becoming more integrated. Integration means that more areas of the brain
are becoming specialized and interconnected to one another in more effective
ways. This specialization takes place
through a process of pruning. Pruning is
the remodeling of the brain, letting go of connections in the brain that are
not needed or haven’t been used. From a
trauma perspective, this means that neural pathways that have been strengthened
to manage safety or that have been developed as a response to trauma will remain
while other pathways that have been ignored due to trauma will be pruned
away.
Dr. Siegel explains that if there is any vulnerability in
the brain’s makeup during childhood, adolescence can reveal those brain
differences because of the pruning down of the existing but insufficient number
of neurons and their connections. The impact
of adverse childhood experiences such as abuse and neglect may become more
noticeable because the pruning is unmasking the vulnerabilities that have been
lying being the surface. This also is
why major psychiatric disorders (which may be responses to trauma) may express
themselves for the first time in adolescence.
Trauma Responses
When the flight, fight or freeze responses engage in
adolescents it can lead to long term difficulties. The fight response is a teen’s struggle to
gain or hold onto power, especially when they feel they are being coerced. The flight response can be seen when a teen
disengages, runs away and/or checks out emotionally. The freeze response occurs
when a youth gives into those in positions of power and does not or is unable
to speak up (Adolescent Health Working Group, 2013, www.ahwg.net).
Teens living in households with ongoing abuse and neglect
have probably not been able to learn effective ways to manage their outward
emotions and their internal responses.
They may blame themselves for the abuse and feel ashamed about what they
have experienced. They may engage in
behaviors to manage their trauma responses in unhealthful and dangerous ways
such as with alcohol and drug abuse, self-harm, unhealthy relationships,
isolation, and high-risk actions.
Their school performance may be impacted by either
under-performing, conflict with school personnel, or skipping classes. The ability to complete tasks or understand
school work can be greatly affected by learning disabilities or impairments
that cannot be explained by anything other than the impact of witnessing or
experiencing trauma. Being unable to
relate to peers and not feeling able to perform adequately in a school
environment can lead to feels of shame and isolation.
Impact on Relationships
As you can well imagine, the above trauma responses would
influence relationships that a teen may have during adolescence. There may be
ongoing conflict with family members or detachment and isolation in order to
avoid more conflict. They may isolate from their peers because of
the shame and guilt they feel about their circumstances and also affiliate with
persons who reinforce the bad feelings they have about themselves and/or who
are also engaging alcohol/drug use and other risky behaviors in order to
validate their own sense of loss, shame and isolation. Relationships may be modeled after what they
have seen in their lives and lead to further abuse.
Interventions
The good news is that strong sustained attachments to safe
and nurturing adults and peers can improve a teen’s life. Within these relationships an adolescent can
learn the skills necessary for identifying, expressing, and modulating feelings
that arise when he/she is triggered or trying to manage the developmental tasks
common to this age group having to do with identity and roles in society. In addition, teens need to feel competent and
be able to plan for and have feelings of control about the future. Engaging in positive activities that help
them discover and nurture latent talents can help increase resiliency and lead
to a healthy adulthood.
For more information go to :
http://www.ahwg.net/
Over the years I have heard many parents say to me “I can
only give what I got” as a response to questions about their parenting. They were stating that the parenting they
received as children impacted their parenting as adults and they were not able
to do any better as a result. This is only
half true.