Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

PTSD symptoms can affect thoughts, emotions, behaviors, relationships, and the body. They may include:

• Intrusive memories or unwanted thoughts about what happened

• Nightmares or flashbacks

• Feeling as though the traumatic event is happening again

• Avoiding people, places, conversations, or situations that remind you of the trauma

• Feeling constantly on guard or easily startled

• Anxiety, fear, irritability, or anger

• Difficulty sleeping or concentrating

• Feeling emotionally numb or disconnected

• Negative beliefs about yourself or the world

• Feelings of guilt, shame, or self-blame

• Difficulty trusting others or feeling safe

• Losing interest in activities you previously enjoyed

How Can Therapy Help With PTSD?

Trauma-focused therapy can help you process what happened, reduce the intensity of trauma symptoms, and regain a sense of safety and control.

Understand Your Trauma Response

Therapy can help you understand why your mind and body may continue reacting to something that happened in the past. Learning about the trauma response can reduce confusion and self-blame.

Learn Coping and Regulation Skills

Before and during trauma processing, a therapist may help you develop skills to:

• Manage anxiety and intense emotions

• Calm your nervous system

• Ground yourself when triggered

• Improve sleep

• Recognize emotional and physical triggers

• Feel more present and connected to the current moment

Process Traumatic Memories

When you are ready, trauma-focused therapy can help you safely work through memories that continue to cause distress. The goal isn't to erase the memory or pretend the event didn't happen. Instead, treatment can help the brain and nervous system process the experience so it has less control over your present life.

Challenge Trauma-Related Beliefs

Trauma can sometimes lead to beliefs such as:

• "It was my fault."

• "I'm not safe."

• "I can't trust anyone."

• "I'm powerless."

• "Something bad is always going to happen."

Therapy can help you examine these beliefs and develop healthier, more balanced ways of understanding yourself and what happened.

Rebuild Safety and Trust

PTSD can affect relationships and your ability to feel safe with other people. Therapy can help you establish boundaries, rebuild trust, improve communication, and develop healthier relationships.

How Can EMDR Help PTSD?

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is one evidence-based approach used to treat PTSD and trauma-related symptoms.

During EMDR, a therapist helps you focus on aspects of a traumatic memory while using bilateral stimulation, such as guided eye movements or alternating taps or sounds. The process is designed to help the brain reprocess the memory so that it becomes less emotionally and physically overwhelming.

You may still remember what happened, but the memory may no longer produce the same intense fear, shame, panic, or sense of being back in the traumatic situation.

The Goal of PTSD Therapy

The goal isn't to forget what happened.

It's to help you move from:

"I'm still living in what happened to me."

toward:

"It happened, I survived it, and I can live safely and fully in the present."

With appropriate treatment, people with PTSD can learn to manage symptoms, process traumatic experiences, strengthen relationships, and regain a greater sense of safety, confidence, and control over their lives.