Stormy emotions, defiant behaviors, and a search for identity often characterize the teenage years. These struggles are even more complicated for some teens due to traumatizing events or unresolved problems, which affect their emotional wellness and behavior. Over the last few decades, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) has become an effective trauma treatment modality. Perhaps you are still left wondering, though: In what ways can EMDR help with teen behavior?
Learning about what EMDR is, the benefits it offers, and how it can be used for behavioral change in teens can help you determine if this modality could benefit your daughter. Clearview Horizon Girls Academy is dedicated to offering EMDR therapy in an environment that fosters behavioral improvement and academic success.
What Is Emdr?
Initially, EMDR was created as a psychotherapy to reduce distress linked with memories of trauma. This treatment combines components of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), mindfulness methods, and bilateral stimulation to assist people in dealing with the traumas they have suffered. The intervention creates the opportunity to diminish the emotional response to those traumas.
In a session of EMDR, the therapist leads the client through a set of bilateral eye movements, taps, or sounds while the client recalls negative memories or experiences. This procedure facilitates the process of separating the individual from the trauma and reprocessing the memories adaptively.
The Advantages of Emdr
EMDR has facilitated substantial improvements in the behavior of teenagers by addressing the root of their trauma and enhancing their emotional control. Read on to learn about the various benefits of EMDR for changing teen behavior.
How Can Emdr Help With Teen Trauma Resolution?
The therapeutic modality of EMDR helps adolescents process and resolve the traumatic experiences that may be causing difficult behaviors. Behaviors caused by trauma can include aggression, defiance, or withdrawal. Using EMDR to resolve the underlying cause of the behavior provides teens with a reduction of symptoms and a sense of control over their emotions and actions.
Unfortunately, the source of trauma is often unknown. EMDR still can be used successfully in these cases. This modality allows teens to begin recalling various memories. Some of those memories may have led teens to develop negative beliefs about themselves.
How Can Emdr Help With Teen Emotional Regulation?
The practice of EMDR helps teenagers develop coping strategies and emotional regulation techniques that enable them to deal with distressing emotions more constructively. By gaining the ability to tolerate stress and control their emotions, teens can decrease their impulsive actions. In therapy, they can also mentally practice difficult situations and explore how they can effectively handle these situations in the future.
How Can Emdr Help With Teen Improved Self-Esteem?
Teens who have been through trauma and have had negative experiences often have poor self-esteem and may have feelings of worthlessness. With EMDR, teenagers can learn to reprocess negative beliefs and develop a more positive perception of themselves. This will make them more self-confident and resilient. EMDR helps these positive beliefs to last through a sense of compassion and self-understanding.
How Can Emdr Enhance Interpersonal Relationships?
Adolescents who have had trauma may have problems with trust, communication, and positively connecting with others. The practice of EMDR allows teenagers to heal relational trauma and enhance their ability to connect with peers, family, and authority figures. Building friendships in recovery is important, but that can be difficult to do if a teen is struggling to trust and communicate with others.
How Can Emdr Help With Teen Behavioral Change?
This modality helps to address trauma and foster emotional regulation, which culminates in huge behavioral changes in teens. Teenagers can demonstrate decreases in disruptive behaviors, aggression, self-injurious behaviors, substance abuse, and other maladaptive coping strategies as they start learning how to deal with their feelings better.
Oftentimes, when trauma is not addressed, people fall into negative behaviors to try and cope with trauma. Working through their trauma history, teens can find healthy ways to deal with life’s everyday challenges.
The Importance of Emdr at Clearview
Clearview knows the importance of offering complete support and intervention to teens with behavioral challenges, trauma, and mental health issues. Adolescents can go through various traumas ranging from family trauma, loss of loved ones, bullying, and many other obstacles. Many girls have dealt with significant difficulties by the time they are teenagers. To help girls process the resulting emotions and heal deep inner wounds, Clearview uses EMDR in its treatment plans for teens.
Clearview Horizon Girls Academy provides adolescents with individualized treatment plans tailored specifically to their unique needs, strengths, and obstacles. Our interdisciplinary team of highly qualified clinicians, therapists, and educators work together to offer effective trauma-informed services that address the roots of behaviors.
The treatments offered include individual and group therapy, academic support, and life skills training to help adolescents surmount their behavioral issues and reach their highest potential. EMDR can be a great addition to the treatment plans of adolescents who have experienced traumatic situations.
The best way to set the healing process in motion is to learn how eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) can help your daughter with challenging behavior and untreated trauma. The outstanding management of clinicians and therapists at our organization can help your daughter overcome her difficulties. At Clearview Horizon Girls Academy, we have a mission to help teenagers recover from old trauma and cope with current circumstances in healthy ways. EMDR is a great way for teens to address the root cause of their issues and overcome the negative beliefs they may have developed about themselves. For additional information about our fully integrated approach that combines EMDR therapy with academic services and life skill training, contact us at 866-584-4788.
