7 Types of Childhood Trauma

Childhood trauma might be a broad term for a specific type of trauma, and it seems contradictory. The term trauma can be general, however, in this post, I am going to break down 7 specific types of childhood traumas and their impacts on adults now. Imagine peeling an onion, yes there are many layers of childhood trauma that we can find, and here are some of them:

Physical Abuse

Suppose a child is being hit, beaten, kicked, or physically hurt in any way, it can absolutely cause an emotional wound. If this abusive behavior happens frequently, it certainly becomes traumatic for the body. In adulthood, the consequences of physical abuse are many, for example, in the present adults might develop severe anxiety, unknown fears, safety issues, afraid of “getting in trouble”, and low self-esteem. I noticed that survivors of physical abuse develop a sense of “I deserve to be punished, I am defective”. How come a person you love the most tortures you physically? It gets very confusing for the brain to understand.

Emotional Abuse

If you ever dealt with a parent or another caregiver swearing at you, insulting you, humiliating you, or putting you down, you probably suffered from emotional abuse.  And if this abusive behavior happened over and over, those nasty voices were internalized in your head. As an adult, the consequences of emotional abuse can be devastating, in the present you might have developed depression, anxiety, intense fears, panic attacks, low self-esteem, and a sense of “I am not good enough, there is something wrong with me”.

Sexual Abuse

Sexual abuse itself is heartbreaking and how caregivers (especially parents) respond to it matters a lot. If your caregivers responded shamefully or dismissively - either denying or shaming what happened to you – then this experience becomes even more traumatic because of the lack of support and protection. Sexual abuse leaves marks and I noticed that adults who were injured from this specific trauma develop low self-esteem and a sense of unworthiness or “it`s all my fault”.

Neglect

I want to mention that there are 2 types of neglect: emotional and physical. We tend to talk about physical neglect more often because it is obvious. Physical neglect means that the child is not receiving appropriate clothing, shelter, food, water, hygiene care, or being taken to the doctors’ appointments, in other words, physical neglect consists of not having the basic needs fulfilled. Emotional neglect, on the other hand, means that the parents are not being attuned or attentive to the child`s needs and emotions, the child is being ignored. This child might have all the basic needs met, but they are lacking proper love from their parents. Emotional neglect in adults might cause some sort of “emptiness” and “loneliness”. Physical neglect results in anxiety, feeling “empty”, a sense of “scarcity” and depression.

Witnessing Violence

Witnessing domestic violence at home can bring lots of anxiety for the child, a sense of “danger” and chronic sadness. These violent memories get impregnated in the subconscious and unconscious mind, and as an adult, you might feel unsafe or anxious for no reason. For example, if you witnessed your parents physically or verbally fighting at night before bed, you may develop some unknown anxiety at bedtime, or sleeping problems because those memories are loud in your unconscious. The archetypes of feminine and masculine energy might be fighting within you and nowadays it might be difficult to balance both energies. Feminine energy – creativity, intuition, and feeling. Masculine energy – reason, action, and doing.

Bullying

Sometimes bullying starts at home. If you were a child who grew up in a home where you experienced emotional abuse, you probably experienced bullying. However, many kids experience bullying at school caused by other kids and also by some teachers. If the child has enough support at home, they can get through this trauma, but if they do not have support at home, meaning they feel embarrassed to talk to their parents about it -because they know the consequences, ”if I tell dad he will shame me” - then, they will struggle. Bullying brings many consequences such as low self-esteem, lack of sense of belonging, and social anxiety.

Spiritual Abuse

We don’t talk a lot about spiritual abuse, but this is surprisingly common. There is nothing wrong with having a religion and being part of a religious community. The problem starts when people develop extreme beliefs such as “Everybody else is going to hell but me, I am a good person because I believe in God, if you don`t do this you are impure”.  Where there is judgment, there is prison. If you were terrorized by your caregivers regarding a certain religion, if you were forced to pray out of fear because there is a vengeful God, then you might have experienced spiritual abuse. The consequences in adulthood are not having any faith or hope, a lost sense of self and spirituality, feeling lost, a lack of meaning in life, and difficulty defining your spirituality.

Conclusion

I know that talking about childhood trauma brings a lot of feelings, perhaps a feeling of hopelessness. You might be asking “This is so big, will I ever heal from this?”.  There is a way out, there is hope and there is the other side. It is possible to heal and become a healthy version of yourself. I am here to help you get to the other side and build a life with more balance and fulfillment.

If you want structured sessions and professional help with healing childhood trauma, feel free to contact me for a 20-minute consultation call or book an appointment to see how I might be able to help you.