PTSD Treatment for Teenagers

Is Past Hurt Making It Hard To Feel Safe In Your Own Shoes?

Are you a teenager who is tired of wrestling with the pain of post-traumatic stress? Has the past left you emotionally scarred and unable to feel grounded in the present? Do you struggle to trust others and form healthy relationships because of past hurt or abuse? 

Maybe you’re not entirely sure that you’re dealing with trauma, but there are signs that the emotional wounds of the past still affect you today. Perhaps you feel stressed and overwhelmed all the time – you cannot relax at home, at school, or with friends. Or maybe you suffer from a constant feeling of numbness, as if you’re not fully present in your body or stuck on the side-lines of your own life. You may ask yourself: What do I have to do to change? Is the past going to hold me back forever?

Trauma Can Impact Your Relationships With Others And Yourself

There’s no sugar-coating the effects of trauma and PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). If someone close to you hurt you, being physically or emotionally close with anyone may scare you. You may fear that the past will repeat itself and you’ll get hurt all over again as soon as you trust someone. 

Additionally, you might internalise the suffering you went through and believe that you’re at fault for it. Perhaps you struggle with self-loathing and feel discontent with your body. You may suffer from an eating disorder or feel tempted to self-harm or harm others. Sometimes, you may even have thoughts of ending your life.

No matter how hopeless you feel, we are confident that we can empower you to work through the pain of the past and achieve a fresh start in life. Here at daosoma, our goal is to help you find peace and quiet, feel happy in your body, and enjoy healthy and fulfilling relationships. 

Most Forms Of Trauma Happen Over Long Periods Of Time

Early childhood trauma is responsible for at least a third of all mental illnesses¹. While most people think of traumatic experiences as single events, the most powerful forms of trauma are often the ones that are prolonged and repeated over long periods of time. These are often known as adverse childhood experiences. They can include child neglect, violence, sexual abuse, parental mental illness, and parental divorce or separation. 

Oftentimes, what makes trauma so difficult is lack of emotional support. If you don’t have caring or supportive adults to talk to, it’s easy to spiral down and lose perspective. Even the people supposed to help you – therapists, social workers, psychiatrists, and loved ones – may not have been able to give you the care you needed. As a result, you may feel alone in your suffering and believe there’s no hope for your condition. 

The People In Your Life May Not Understand What It’s Like To Deal With PTSD 

Maybe you’ve thought about therapy before, but a part of you feels hesitant. Perhaps you were misunderstood or criticized when you reached out for help. Maybe your parents don’t want you to attend therapy, even though you are entitled to it through the health insurance system in Switzerland.Regardless of your situation, we encourage you to take heart. With our compassionate approach to PTSD treatment for teenagers, we believe we can help you process and resolve your trauma and feel more at ease in your own shoes.

PTSD Treatment Is A Space For Teenagers To Find Compassion And Validation 

In the world of mental health, PTSD is the elephant in the room. Virtually everyone knows about it, but few know how to treat it. The problem is that most forms of counselling aren’t really built for dealing with PTSD. They often focus purely on the mind and don’t consider trauma’s effects on the body. Here at daosoma, we recognise that the body is the storehouse of trauma. By deepening your relationship with the body, we are confident that you can achieve fuller, long-lasting healing.

PTSD therapy is a safe space to reflect on your life and find compassion and validation. Above all, we will take your experience at face value – other people may not believe your story, but we will believe it and take it seriously unconditionally. Your therapist will offer a safe presence for whatever is present in you. And since we are bound by professional secrecy, we will not share anything about your time in counselling with anyone.

What To Expect In Sessions

Depending on your situation, you may come alone, with a friend, or with parents and caretakers. Ideally we would work together with the whole support system, but you are in control of who’s involved in your treatment process.

In sessions together, we will explain how the body and brain react to trauma. The goal is to help you understand that what you’re feeling is normal. The way your nervous system responds to post-traumatic stress is instinctive and planned – you are not at fault for your trauma reactions, but you can change them. Doing so takes time, patience, and a great deal of attention to your body’s responses. 

That’s why we focus on getting in touch with your body. Here at daosoma, we want to help you identify the body sensations that you experience when you feel stressed, such as sweaty palms, rapid heart rate, or heavy breathing. Body sensations allow you to access trauma without the need for words or images. You can heal traumatic stress without having to talk about painful experiences or thinking extensively about what happened.

Tailoring Your Treatment Plan

Although we want you to understand trauma on a deeper level, our practice is heavily solution-focused. The most important thing is giving you skills you can use in everyday life. We believe that you are the expert on your own life and we want to help you develop the coping skills that work best for you. You might focus on deep-breathing, sitting still, normalising certain eating habits, or making new friends. The purpose of the skills you learn is to help you regulate painful emotions and, beyond that, to endow your life with a sense of joy and fulfilment. 

Right now, you might feel like your situation will never change. But as the famous psychiatrist Ben Furman said, “it’s never too late to have a happy childhood.”² With our help and support, we believe you can strengthen your support system, deepen your relationship with your body, and resolve the pain of the past.

You May Have Some Concerns About PTSD Treatment For Teenagers And Adolescents…

I’m worried that I won’t be able to afford therapy.

Our counselling services are paid for by the healthcare system here in Switzerland. You do not have to worry about the cost!

I feel like I’ve already tried everything. What will you do differently?

It’s normal to feel like you’ve tried everything. Many of our clients have already been to numerous therapists with no luck. Trauma and PTSD therapy is still a little-known specialty even within the field of psychiatry and psychotherapy. There is still so much research to be done. Based on what we do know, however, the body is the storehouse of past hurt. So by accessing the memories that the body holds onto, you can process and resolve the emotional wounds holding you back in life.

Will my parents, teachers, and peers know I’m in counselling?

We are bound by laws of professional secrecy – no one needs to know that you’re seeing us. We will not share anything you tell us unless you provide a signed release of information. At the same time, however, healing does not happen in isolation. If possible, we like to involve your entire support group in the healing process. This way, you have many shoulders to lean on when you feel down and do not have to rely on your own strength. 

Your Story Matters And You Deserve The Best Care Possible

Recovering from an unlucky start is always possible. Our therapists have lots of experience dealing with traumaand PTSD and we believe we can provide the emotional support you need. To get started, you can use the online booking system to schedule a free 20-minute get-to-know-you session to see if we’re a good fit. 

¹ https://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2017/04/adverse-childhood
² Furman, Ben. It’s Never Too Late To Have A Happy Childhood: New And Effective Methods To Live By. BT Press, 1998.

If you do not know how to contact us because it is too dangerous: Via the app Threema.ch you can contact us securely and anonymously. My ID is W4D3EE4F (Marc Heusser). Or via the form on the website, which is also secure and confidential. Or send a letter/note to our mailbox at Universitätstrasse 67 in Zurich, with where, how and when we can most safely reach you.

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