How To Heal From Childhood Traumas: Find the Best Therapist for Recovery

Therapist helping heal childhood traumas.

Learn more about Childhood Trauma Therapy.

In This Blog, You’ll Learn:

✅ What are childhood traumas and how they impact adulthood
✅ Steps to heal childhood traumas and reclaim emotional well-being
✅How healing from childhood traumas improves relationships and self-worth

Understanding Childhood Traumas

Childhood traumas shape how we navigate life, relationships, and self-perception. But healing from childhood traumas is possible with awareness, self-compassion, and intentional action.

What Are Childhood Traumas?

Trauma in childhood stems from distressing events that overwhelm a child’s ability to cope. Some of the most common childhood traumas include:

Abuse (physical, emotional, or sexual)
Neglect or abandonment
Parental divorce or separation
Witnessing violence or substance abuse
Loss of a caregiver
Serious illness or hospitalization
Bullying or social rejection
Emotional invalidation

What are the 10 Childhood Traumas?

Research identifies 10 childhood traumas, commonly known as Adverse Childhood Experiences or ACEs,. Understanding these childhood traumas in adults is key to healing from childhood traumas and breaking the cycle of emotional pain. Therapy and self-awareness can help individuals work through their past and build a healthier future.

Ten Childhood Trauma Categories:

1. Physical Abuse
Being hit, slapped, kicked, or otherwise physically harmed by a caregiver or authority figure.
Can lead to fear, hypervigilance, or difficulty forming trusting relationships.
2. Emotional Abuse
Constant criticism, humiliation, rejection, or verbal assault.
Often results in low self-esteem, anxiety, and difficulty regulating emotions.
3. Sexual Abuse
Any unwanted sexual contact, coercion, or exposure to sexual content at a young age.
Can cause deep emotional wounds, trust issues, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
4. Physical Neglect
Lack of proper food, clothing, shelter, or supervision.
Can create feelings of abandonment and difficulty meeting one's own needs in adulthood.
5. Emotional Neglect
Absence of love, support, and validation from caregivers.
Can lead to difficulties in expressing emotions, forming relationships, or recognizing personal worth.
6. Parental Separation or Divorce
The emotional distress caused by family breakdown, custody battles, or instability in living arrangements.
May contribute to attachment issues, anxiety, and struggles with commitment.
7. Witnessing Domestic Violence
Seeing a parent or caregiver being physically, emotionally, or verbally abused.
Can normalize toxic relationship patterns and lead to fear or aggression in adulthood.
8. Substance Abuse in the Household
Living with a parent or family member who struggles with drug or alcohol addiction.
Can lead to a chaotic home environment, neglect, or taking on adult responsibilities too early.
9. Mental Illness in the Household
Having a caregiver with untreated depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, or another mental illness.
May cause instability, emotional neglect, or feelings of helplessness in childhood.
10. Having an Incarcerated Family Member
Experiencing a parent's or close relative’s imprisonment.
Often results in feelings of shame, financial strain, and instability in home life.

There are other lists expand beyond these, including 7 childhood traumas, 8 childhood traumas, and even 9 childhood traumas as different studies classify them in unique ways. Some even discuss 3 unnamed childhood traumas that don’t fit traditional models but still cause deep emotional wounds.

The Effects of Childhood Traumas in Adults

Unresolved childhood traumas in adults manifest in various ways. Here are some childhood trauma symptoms adults:

Struggles with emotional regulation and anxiety
Difficulties trusting others and forming healthy relationships
Low self-esteem and self-worth issues
Chronic stress, burnout, and perfectionism
Disordered eating patterns (effect of childhood traumas on eating disorders systematic review)
Over-apologizing or people-pleasing (does being too nice come from childhood traumas?)

How to Heal from Childhood Traumas

At Mountains Therapy in Montclair, NJ, we specialize in guiding individuals through the process of healing from childhood traumas with compassion and expertise. Healing is a journey. Learn how to heal childhood trauma and PTSD in trauma therapy near me. How childhood trauma adults start to work through their trauma?

1. Identify Your Traumas

Take a childhood traumas test to understand what experiences may still affect you.
Explore lists such as the list of childhood traumas or different childhood traumas to reflect on your past.
Some people resonate with enneagram childhood traumas, connecting their trauma responses to personality types.

2. Understand Their Impact

Ask yourself: What are my childhood traumas?
Consider how they shape your thoughts, behaviors, and emotional triggers.
Check platforms like childhood traumas Reddit to see how others navigate healing.

3. Seek Professional Help

Counseling treatment for adults of childhood trauma is available.
Therapy provides tools to heal childhood traumas and foster emotional resilience.
Look for trauma-informed therapists who understand healing from childhood traumas black women or healing from childhood traumas black men, addressing cultural nuances.

4. Practice Self-Compassion and Emotional Regulation

Engage in mindfulness, journaling, and self-reflection.
Address relationship dynamics through healing from childhood traumas and past relationships or healing from childhood traumas in a relationship.

5. Rebuild Your Identity Beyond Trauma

Break cycles by understanding how childhood traumas affect your worldview.
Accept that healing from childhood traumas is so hard but ultimately rewarding.
If you're a childhood trauma adult, you can rewrite your narrative through trauma therapy.

How Healing From Childhood Traumas Improves Relationships and Self-Worth

Healing from childhood trauma is like clearing out emotional clutter. It makes space for real love, genuine connections, and a rock-solid sense of self-worth. It’s hard work, but the rewards are so worth it—for you and for your relationships.

How Childhood Trauma Impacts Relationships:

Old Wounds, New Problems: Unresolved childhood trauma can lead to insecurity, trust issues, and feeling "not enough" as an adult.
Shaky Foundation: It’s like trying to build a stable life on an unsteady base—everything feels a bit wobbly.

The Power of Healing in Building Stronger Connections:

Rebuilding Your Foundation: Therapy, self-reflection, or simply being kinder to yourself can help you process and heal.
Breaking Negative Patterns: You start to recognize old habits and realize, "That wasn’t my fault," or "I deserve better."
Increasing Self-Worth: Each step forward strengthens your confidence and sense of self.

How Healing Improves Your Relationships:

Healthier Boundaries: You learn to say no when needed and yes when it feels right.
Better Communication: You respond with awareness instead of reacting from old hurt.
Deeper, More Authentic Connections: You attract people who align with the healthier, more genuine version of you.
Embracing Healthy Love: You understand that love doesn’t have to hurt or feel uncertain.

Overcoming Childhood Traumas

So how do adults with childhood trauma overcome it? While healing from childhood traumas takes time, patience, and effort, the journey allows you to reclaim your sense of self. If you ever wonder, how many childhood traumas are there? or seek resources like a childhood traumas pdf, remember that healing is an ongoing process—one that is entirely within your reach.

Starting Therapy for Childhood Traumas

If you've been wondering how to heal from childhood trauma then you're a the right place! If you’re ready to take the next step in healing from childhood traumas, trauma counseling near me can help. Working with a post traumatic stress disorder therapists, or trauma informed therapist can help you process past experiences, develop healthy coping strategies, and reclaim your sense of self. Whether you’re struggling with childhood trauma as adults, unresolved emotions, relationship challenges, or self-worth issues, professional support can provide the guidance needed to navigate your healing journey.

At Mountains Therapy in Montclair, NJ, we offer trauma counseling for adults with traumatic childhood and adulthood. compassionate and individualized therapy to help you overcome the effects of childhood traumas. Our therapists are experienced in trauma recovery and provide a safe space to explore your past while building a healthier future. If your an adult childhood trauma survivor and you're interested in beginning therapy, reach out to us today to start your path toward healing