How Adolescents Are Affected By Trauma

By Saleem Rana


Monday, July 30, 2012

Interview by Lon Woodbury

Kevin Wing, Director of Counseling Services at Montcalm School in Michigan, spoke for an hour with Lon Woodbury on L.A. Talk Radio on the impact of trauma on teenagers.

Background

Kevin spent 22 years at Starr Commonwealth, where he worked in various jobs, including working as an outpatient specialist and as an intensive in-home counseling professional. He also worked as an Intake Director for the Starr Commonwealth programs in Albion, Michigan, before joining Montcalm School. In 1979, he graduated with a bachelor's degree from Central Michigan University, and then in 1984 he acquired his master's qualification in social work from Michigan State University.

Montcalm School is a private, therapeutic boarding school for boys and girls. It is located in Albion, Michigan, and it is a program that is part of Starr Commonwealth. The institution helps boys between the ages of 12 to 21 as well as girls between the ages of 12 to 18. It supplies a variety of programs for transitional living intended to assist boys and girls recover from psychological difficulties and also get back on track academically.

What Is Trauma?

The discussion focused on mental trauma, which includes thoughts of imminent danger and painful feelings like helplessness, hopelessness, and powerlessness. Besides affecting thoughts and feelings, trauma can produce numerous behavioral issues like withdrawal, irritability, aggression, chronic stress and hypervigilance.

While people commonly think about trauma as a result of a direct encounter, it can be the outcome of a vicarious episode. Kevin explained that the current Aurora, Colorado, shooting in a movie house theater could have traumatized even adults and children that frequently heard about the massacre on the news.

Typically, trauma in teens can be expertly dealt with in private therapy. Nonetheless, residential treatment therapy for traumatized teenagers is essential if there are repeated incidents of dangerous behavior to self and others. This type of behavior can include incidents like self-cutting, substance abuse, or severe social withdrawal. It can also include out-of-control, edgy conduct, or belonging to a street gang.

Synopsis

The talk show dealt with the many features typical of traumatization, from reviewing causes to identifying visible outcomes. It even talked about what to look for to recognize a trauma victim and just how excessive emotional stress adversely impacts the amygdala in the brain. Overall, the conversation produced a thorough perspective of precisely how trauma detrimentally impacts young people and just how specialized trauma therapy in a residential treatment home can assist them to reconstruct their lives.




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