Overcoming childhood trauma with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Have you experienced trauma in childhood which is negatively impacting on your well being and self-worth? Many people have, not that this makes it any easier to bear.

Trauma comes in very different shapes and forms. Often, we may not think of it as trauma, we may dismiss or minimise it.

A trauma is defined as a wound, shock, or injury. Psychological trauma is a person’s experience of emotional distress resulting from an event that overwhelms our ability to emotionally process it.

What happens to us in childhood shapes and governs who and how we are as adults. As children, we absorb the world around us like a sponge, taking in both the good and the bad experiences we are exposed to.

Being constantly told “you’re useless, stupid, fat, weak, too slow, not bright enough” hurts. Comparisons to siblings leave us feeling we are lacking. Bullying and being laughed at, either at school or home, can create a negative core belief or view of ourselves such as “I’m worthless”, “I’m not good enough”.

Some individuals have been exposed to neglect, physical or sexual abuse or have witnessed domestic abuse in childhood. We may feel ashamed or embarrassed of what has happened to us as a child.

Does any of this sound familiar to you? CBT can help work on changing negative perceptions of self into more balanced, realistic and helpful ones. It’s a gradual process, we would start initially with challenging Negative Automatic Thoughts (“They don’t like me”, “I look weird”, “I’m going to mess this up”, “If I go to the meal no one will talk to me”) and then progress to working on Rules and Assumptions (“I must never show any sign of weakness or back away from a challenge,” “I should never ask for something that I need.” ,” I should not trust people or they will hurt me”)and finally Core Belief

We can’t change the past but we can change how we feel, live and behave in the here and now and lead a happier life. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy can help you to move on from your past into a brighter future.

Best wishes

Fiona