How Does Childhood Trauma Affect Adulthood?

Childhood is oftentimes romanticized as a period of safety, exploration, and growth. However, for some, it can also be a period of deep emotional pain and hardship. Childhood trauma can leave scars that remain far into adulthood.

Whether caused by abuse, neglect, loss, or other distressing experiences, childhood trauma may continue to impact your present in ways that feel overwhelming and painful. However, understanding the impact of childhood trauma on adulthood is the first step in reclaiming your sense of self and emotional well-being as an adult.

In this blog, we explore what childhood trauma is, the effects of early trauma, and some of the best therapeutic approaches for treating childhood trauma.

What Exactly Is Childhood Trauma?

Childhood trauma is any event or series of events that overwhelms a child’s ability to cope with significant emotional, physical, or psychological distress. There are various experiences that could result in childhood trauma, including:

• Physical or emotional abuse
• Sexual abuse
• Physical or emotional neglect
• Witnessing violence, including domestic violence
• Parental separation or divorce
• Loss of a loved one, especially a caregiver
• Severe bullying, harassment, or exclusion
• Experiencing a natural disaster
• Severe accident
• Medical trauma

These experiences can leave a child at a loss for how to cope. They may feel fear, helplessness, and powerlessness following a traumatic experience. Over time, if these feelings aren’t addressed and processed in a healthy way, they can become deeply entrenched and continue to shape the way a child views themselves and the world around them well into adulthood.

How Childhood Trauma Affects Adulthood

The symptoms of childhood trauma can impact many areas of adult life. These effects can range from difficulty with certain emotions to actual physical health problems. However, the impacts of trauma often appear in subtle or more insidious ways you might not expect. Here are some of the most common impacts of childhood trauma:

Emotional Disregulation

Childhood trauma often disrupts the ability to regulate emotions in healthy ways. As an adult, you may experience intense emotional responses like feeling overwhelmed, anxious, or angry without understanding why or what to do about it. This emotional intensity can not only be exhausting if it happens regularly, but it can also lead to feelings of guilt and shame. 

Difficulty With Relationships

It can be difficult for adults who experienced trauma as a child to develop healthy relationships. Often people who experienced trauma struggle to trust others or believe others to be capable of offering genuine support. They might have a deep-seated fear of abandonment as a result of their earlier experiences. As a result, individuals who experienced trauma as a child might be attracted to toxic relationships or unhealthy relationship patterns as a result of the dynamics experienced in childhood.

Low Self-Esteem and Shame

Trauma can cause internalized negative beliefs about oneself including feelings of being unworthy, unlovable, or broken in some way. This pattern of thinking can result in low self-esteem, self-doubt, and difficulty truly accepting love from others. Even after accomplishments, individuals who experience trauma as a child may still feel like they don’t deserve recognition and constantly battle with a sense of imposter syndrome.

Mental Health Struggles

Unprocessed childhood trauma has a strong link to a variety of mental health struggles and disorders in adulthood, which can include anxiety, depression, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and Complex PTSD. If you feel like you may be struggling with symptoms of any of these issues, a therapist can help you find ways of coping in the moment and offer strategies for long-term relief.

Physical Health Issues / Illness

Trauma isn’t just in the mind. It has profound impacts on physical health as well. Chronic stress resulting from a traumatic experience or ongoing experiences can contribute to health issues like heart disease, digestive issues, chronic pain, autoimmune conditions, and sleep disturbances. Many individuals who experienced childhood trauma develop physical symptoms that are a result of prolonged stress and tension in the body.

Self-Sabotage Or Addictive Behaviors

Many individuals with unresolved childhood trauma turn to unhealthy coping mechanisms like alcohol, drugs, food, or other addictive behaviors for relief from lingering symptoms of trauma. These self-sabotaging behaviors can serve as temporary relief but often lead to greater emotional and physical harm over time.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

In some cases, individuals who experienced trauma as a child might develop symptoms of PTSD, which might include flashbacks, nightmares, hyperarousal, or intrusive thoughts. PTSD is especially common in individuals who experienced physical, sexual, or emotional abuse in childhood, or who witnessed violence when young.

There are many ways childhood trauma can impact an individual in adulthood. But the good news is that healing is possible. It might feel like an overwhelming journey now, but therapy can provide a safe and supportive space to process painful memories, gradually dissolve symptoms, and begin to reclaim your life.

How Can Therapy Help Address Childhood Trauma?

Therapy can be highly effective in addressing childhood trauma by providing a structured and supportive environment for healing. The right therapeutic approach depends on the individual’s needs and the nature of their trauma, but several evidence-based modalities have been shown to be particularly beneficial. Some common approaches include: 

• Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) helps individuals work through relational difficulties that stem from early trauma, improving communication and boundary-setting.
• Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) focuses on emotional regulation and relationship skills.
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) helps reframe negative thought patterns and develop healthier coping strategies.
• Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) aids in reprocessing traumatic memories, reducing their emotional intensity. 

Other approaches take a more creative or body-centered path to healing, such as:

• Creative Arts Therapy offers a non-verbal outlet for processing emotions through art, drama, music, or movement.
• Somatic Therapy addresses trauma stored in the body, helping to release pent-up emotions.
• Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy focuses on healing wounded inner parts, allowing individuals to reconnect with their past experiences in a compassionate way. 

By exploring these therapeutic options, individuals can find an approach that resonates with them, promoting emotional healing and resilience.

Healing is Possible

Healing from childhood trauma is a deeply personal journey, but it is one that is absolutely possible. No matter how long you’ve carried the weight of your past, it’s not too late to begin the process of healing.

Therapy offers a safe, compassionate space where you can begin to process and heal from your past. You’ll gain insight into how childhood trauma affects your life and develop healthier coping strategies for managing the symptoms of trauma. With support, you can break free from the patterns that have held you back and transform your past pain into a source of strength. 

Please contact us if you would like to learn more about therapy for trauma.