A Review of Trauma-Informed Treatment for Adolescents

Experiencing trauma as a child or youth often has a variety of serious repercussions that have the potential to follow an individual into adulthood. These may include experiencing difficulties in key areas of functioning such as academic achievement and social interactions, the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or coming into contact with the criminal justice system. Unfortunately, it is estimated that approximately 1 in 4 youth will experience some type of substantive trauma during his or her developmental years (Duke, Pettingell, McMorris, & Borowsky, 2010). The current article provides a summary of the main trauma-informed therapies that are currently available for treating adolescents with PTSD or trauma-related symptoms, as well as the therapeutic techniques that are common to all of these main treatments. Further, recommendations are provided concerning trauma-informed therapies that might be most beneficial to employ with adolescents. Implementing therapies that specifically consider a youth's potential exposure to trauma will facilitate a reduction of negative trauma-related symptoms as well as an improvement in life functioning.