Emotional Neglect Therapy

At the Trauma Therapy Center, we proudly offer our clients evidence-based therapy for childhood emotional neglect in West Palm Beach, Florida.

As a psychotherapist licensed by the Florida Board of Social Work and certified in trauma therapy by the Arizona Trauma Institute, I have access to effective trauma counseling interventions to help you heal from past neglect.

Our goal is to create a supportive and non-judgmental environment for you to process your traumatic event and adopt more effective beliefs, aiding you in creating the life you deserve.

What Is Emotional Neglect?

Emotional neglect occurs when your emotional needs are consistently not met, often in childhood and sometimes in a romantic relationship.

Every child has emotional needs such as:

• Feeling heard and understood
• Feeling loved unconditionally
• Receiving validation
• Being respected
• Feeling a sense of belonging

No parent is perfect and, at times, does not meet all the needs of their children. However, emotional neglect is the repeated lack of meeting a child’s emotional needs for a prolonged period of time. 

Emotional neglect can include: 

• Withholding love or giving conditional love
• Putting a child down
• Setting unrealistically high expectations
• Yelling
• Inflicting fear
• Dismissing the child’s feelings
• Name-calling
• Lack of meaningful conversations
• Ignoring emotional needs or feelings in a marriage
• Failing to provide a safe and supportive space

Emotional neglect can have serious negative effects on your mental health. Healing is possible.

The best therapy for childhood emotional neglect can include individual trauma therapy, group therapy, or family therapy. A licensed individual and family therapist can diagnose emotional neglect and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after a thorough assessment.

Impact of Emotional Neglect

Emotional neglect often creates a child who feels like they do not matter or belong.

The long-term effects of emotional neglect can include:

• A chronic sense of emptiness
• Feeling heightened emotions
• Hyperindependence or inability to ask for help
• Dissociation
• Difficulty expressing emotions
• Difficulty in relationships
• Feelings of loneliness, guilt, or shame
• Lack of trust in others

If you experience challenges naming and expressing your emotions, you may have experienced childhood emotional neglect. Therapy for childhood emotional neglect can help you learn to regulate your emotions and build healthy, loving relationships.

It takes courage to get help, and we would be honored to support you in your healing process.

How Can Therapy Help?

Healing from childhood emotional abuse and emotional neglect is possible with the help of an experienced therapist that you feel comfortable with. At the Trauma Therapy Center, we specialize in attachment styles and their effects on PTSD symptoms in adulthood. Attachment styles, or how you form bonds with others, are greatly influenced by your relationship with your primary caregiver from birth.

A highly-rated therapist can help you:

• Regulate your emotions
• Develop healthy coping skills
• Reframing your negative beliefs
• Identify positive belief systems

We conveniently have offices across Palm Beach County, from Boca Raton to West Palm Beach, and virtual options are also available. 

Counseling Options

Emotional neglect is a form of complex trauma. The best therapy for emotional neglect is trauma counseling, which can include evidence-based interventions such as:

• Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TFCBT): You and your therapist will identify the negative belief patterns you have adopted as a result of your childhood emotional neglect and replace them with positive and hopeful beliefs.
• Rational emotive behavioral therapy (REBT): You will identify the irrational beliefs you have due to emotional neglect. These beliefs usually lead to negative feelings and unfavorable behaviors. Your therapist will utilize cognitive restructuring, behavioral experiments, and homework assignments to help change your perceptions and develop new beliefs that lead to positive emotions and experiences.
• Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT): You will develop a toolbox of healthy coping skills to manage your emotions and experiences better.
• Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR): You will disconnect the negative emotions from the traumatic events.

These are just some examples of the interventions you can utilize when working with our top-rated trauma counselors in WPB, FL. Together with your counselor, you will create a plan for your childhood emotional neglect therapy that you are comfortable with.

How Long Does Therapy Take?

A good therapist will create an individualized treatment plan based on your goals and objectives. The length of childhood emotional neglect therapy depends on you and your therapist. Typically, trauma counseling can range from several months to one year. However, each individual’s length of therapy will vary depending on specific needs.

The duration of therapy depends on the severity and duration of the childhood emotional neglect you experienced, your personal needs, and your support system. Healing from emotional abuse and neglect is possible, and you can begin to understand yourself and your emotions and process your trauma.

To get the best therapy for childhood emotional neglect, you may want to meet with your trauma therapist once or twice per week.

How Effective Is Emotional Neglect Therapy?

Emotional neglect therapy can help you feel empowered, improve emotional regulation, and increase your ability to identify and communicate your emotional needs.

After emotional neglect therapy, you can expect to feel a sense of peace, confidence, and connection.

Hierarchy of Needs in Emotional Neglect Therapy

At the Trauma Therapy Center in WPB, we utilize Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs across all mental health services to guide your therapeutic process. Maslow proposed that human needs can be addressed in a certain order.

The hierarchy of needs includes:

• Physiological needs: The need for food, water, and shelter must be satisfied before any other need can be fulfilled.
• Safety needs: We prioritize your safety before beginning any unresolved trauma processing.
• Love and belonging: Individuals have a need to express their emotions and feel validated.
• Self-esteem: We need to be respected by others for who we are.
• Self-actualization: This is the need to find our purpose and express our creativity.

Your therapist will help you fulfill basic needs before moving on to higher-level ones. 

Ready To Heal?

We offer a safe, supportive, and confidential environment for healing unresolved trauma from emotional neglect. Our support is available in person and virtually across Palm Beach County. Contact our office today for a free consultation or to book an appointment.