Developmental Trauma
Developmental Trauma
Developmental trauma is a term often used to describe prolonged exposure to stressful or traumatic events during childhood when the brain is in its most active developmental state. The stressful events often include physical or sexual abuse, neglect by parents or caregivers, and repeated bullying or harassment among others.
While developmental trauma occurs in childhood and the impacts and consequences can be seen and experienced then, it is often in adulthood when they are most noticed. The effects of developmental trauma can include, but are not limited to:
- Emotional, cognitive, and physical illness,
- Difficulty regulating emotions,
- Difficulty controlling impulses and managing stress,
- Struggles with interpersonal relationships,
- Recognizing “safe others” as safe,
- Managing social connections, and
- Psychiatric disorders such as bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, and several others.
When viewed through the lens of Attachment Theory, developmental trauma creates one of several insecure attachment styles, especially what is known as “Fearful / Disorganized” attachment in adulthood.
What this means is that the survivor of developmental trauma will often feel fearful of others, and will not be able to trust others or even their intuition. This leads to a difficult life of doubt, anxiety, stress, “roller-coaster” emotions, and social struggles.
When someone with developmental trauma and a fearful/disorganized attachment style enters into a relationship, their ability to feel safe and trust waffles and they can easily go from feeling safe to feeling unsafe and back and forth.
This often leads to tumultuous relationships, multiple relationships or marriages/divorces, and a general feeling of relationship failure.
Our approach to treating developmental trauma, based on Internal Family Systems (IFS) and EMDR, allows our patients to understand what happened to them (the trauma), understand their attachment style, heal their trauma, and begin to trust – first themselves, and then others with discernment and boundaries.