Therapy for Trauma including Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
- Have you experienced a traumatic event, like a rape, physical/sexual/verbal abuse, crime, combat, an accident/injury/illness, or a natural disaster?
- Do you experience nightmares?
- Do you have flashbacks of a traumatic event you experienced?
- Do you startle easily?
- Are you hypervigilant, often looking over your shoulder and feeling “on edge?”
- Do you have intrusive thoughts about the traumatic event you experienced?
- Do you experience irritability?
- Do you experience feelings of dread and helplessness?
Trauma consists of a wide range of experiences, and what is traumatic to one person may not be to another. Generally, trauma is an event or series of events that threaten your physical, psychological, and emotional well-being. Such events can create immediate distress, shock, and fear, as well as long-term consequences, like anxiety, depression, feelings of distrust, hypervigilance, and increased irritability. You may even have nightmares, intrusive thoughts, or flashbacks about what you have experienced. Incidents like physical or sexual abuse, motor vehicle accidents, illnesses, natural disasters, combat-related experiences, and being a victim of crime can be quite traumatic and wreak havoc on your sense of safety and well-being. Even more seemingly “mundane” experiences, like verbal abuse, being terminated from a job, or other shaming events can give rise to such symptoms. Having the opportunity to talk about what happened to you with someone who empathizes with what you are experiencing can help you recover your level of functioning and sense of peace.
What is therapy for trauma/PTSD like?
Therapy can help create a safe and accepting place for you to talk about the trauma you have experienced. It can provide you with support as you work through your feelings about the event and help you gain coping skills to manage your symptoms. Therapy may also focus on helping you reduce your sense of fear, increase your sense of safety, and develop ways to comfort and soothe yourself when experiencing symptoms associated with the trauma.
Benefits of therapy for trauma/PTSD
- Having a safe place to talk about and process the trauma you have experienced
- Getting emotional support
- Learning ways to cope with your symptoms from the trauma
- Assisting you to develop ways of feeling safe and comforted
- Helping you recover your sense of safety and well-being
Experiences related to PTSD that I treat include:
- Accident/Injury/Illness-Related Trauma
- Combat-Related PTSD
- Natural Disaster
- Physical/Sexual/Verbal Abuse
- Rape