When you try to help your teen cope after they experience trauma, few things are as difficult as feeling like every treatment you try is not making a difference.
Maybe they still refuse to drive their car months after being in a major accident. Maybe they avoid gas stations, bus stops, shopping malls, or grocery stores because they experienced a traumatic event at one of these places. Maybe they start to panic or have difficulty breathing when they hear a noise or see an object that reminds them of their traumatic experience.
Their post-traumatic stress disorder can take a toll on their mental health as well as their ability to live a full, joy-filled life.
However, if you feel like you have exhausted all of your options attempting to make life better for your teen, you don’t have to be discouraged.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy Prolonged Exposure (DBT PE) is a safe and effective treatment designed to help people recover from PTSD that can help your teen.
What is DBT PE?
You might be wondering what Dialectical Behavior Therapy Prolonged Exposure is and what makes it different from other treatment methods your teen has tried.
While most people who experience PTSD want to block out and avoid any emotions, thoughts, or triggers that remind them of their past trauma, DBT PE works by slowly exposing people to their trauma-related memories and emotions until they are able to cope and prevent these situations from having control over their lives.
While this can be challenging- no one wants to revisit painful memories and moments from their past- it is one of the best ways to help teens move forward and improve their PTSD.
There are three key components to this treatment:
In vivo exposure: Encouraging your teen to gradually start approaching people, places, and things that they used to avoid because they would be reminded of their traumatic experience. For instance, if your teen was in a traumatic car accident, they might gradually build up to driving in a car again or driving near the area where they had the accident. This will allow them to see that these people, places, and things aren’t inherently harmful, and it will make your teen feel more comfortable as they go about their daily lives.
Imaginal exposure: Providing space for your teen to discuss the traumatic event(s) in full detail during therapy sessions. The more your teen is able to talk about their traumatic event, the less power it will hold over them, and the easier it will be for them to process.
Processing: Discussing any emotions and fears that your teen experiences when describing their traumatic event. This will help them learn to determine the underlying emotions behind some of their coping mechanisms and help them address negative thought patterns and feelings that interfere with their quality of life.
In vivo exposure, imaginal exposure, and processing help your teen learn that certain feelings, situations, and places they may have been avoiding are actually not harmful because they have more control than they might think. These components of DBT PE also provide tools teens can use to understand and process big emotions and fears that get in the way of their joy.
When your teen participates in DBT PE, they will spend time during each session completing imaginal exposure and processing. Outside of their sessions, they will be encouraged to listen to recordings of their imaginal exposure and complete in vivo exposure exercises.
Over the course of these sessions, your teen will start to recognize that they do not have to live in fear of thinking about or experiencing triggers that remind them of past trauma.
The DBT PE treatment process is an effective method of treatment that can help your teen see results. In fact, 70% of people who complete this treatment see improvements in their post-traumatic stress disorder and related symptoms.
Your teen can benefit from DBT PE whether they are experiencing PTSD from one traumatic event or several traumatic events, and whether they are able to clearly recall their trauma or they can’t quite remember everything that happened. As long as they have the desire to participate in therapy and aren’t engaging in immediate, life-threatening behaviors, your teen can receive this helpful form of therapy.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy Prolonged Exposure can help your teen learn how to reclaim their life and experience freedom after going through one or more traumatic events. If you have been looking for a way to support your teen and help them cope with their PTSD, DBT PE may prove to be a useful treatment option.