Trauma hurts! Our approach helps bring healing. With heart felt compassion we walk side-by-side with you or a loved one to sensitively help you work through the traumatic experience(s). Whether you were in a car accident, witnessed a life threatening event, were in the field of battle serving your country, or experienced abuse of any kind, the effects on the mind and body system can be the same and they are real - trouble concentrating, irritable, replaying the events, struggling to connect with people you love and care about the most, shortness of breath, feelings of sadness, fear or guilt, thoughts racing and trouble sleeping at night. Whatever you or a loved one might have experienced that their soul defines as traumatic we can help you work through it.
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Our Treatment: -
- Hope. ANXIETY & PTSD are treatable! Many people have healed from experiences that have fueled their trauma or anxiety related symptoms and we believe you can too. Research shows that treatment can help you work through and overcome trauma related symptoms.
- Get to know you and assess your current situation. We greatly value your perspectives and hopes for your life, so you will notice that we ask lots of questions to better understand your situation and how we can be the best help to you and those you care about the most.
- We create a plan of together. Because we trust your understanding of yourself, and also trust our understanding of anxiety & PTSD, we like to work with you as a team to create a plan that will successfully treat your anxietyt.
- Treatment: We use specialized approaches to treating your anxiety & PTSD. EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing) is at the forefront of our treatment for anxiety and PTSD. EMDR is an evidenced based approach that has been used for the last twenty five years in successfully treating these symptoms. We are shocked to notice that many people don't even recognize they are suffering from symptoms of PTSD when they come and see us for the first time. No worries, we can help! We have found clients notice marked improvements when they actively participate in a combination of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), bibliotherapy, and EMDR (along with other treatments). We also use scored inventories to track your progress.
- Follow up. After you have successfully completed a course of treatment, it is very normal to schedule some booster sessions to help you maintain the gains you experienced during therapy.
Some Signs of PTSD (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder):
- Repeated, disturbing and unwanted memories
- Repeated, disturbing dreams of a stressful experience
Suddenly feeling or acting as though the stressful experience was happening again
- Strong emotional or physical reactions when reminded of the event
- Avoidance of any stimuli (ie. any person, place, or thing) reminding you of the event
- Blaming yourself or someone else for the experience or the after effects of the event
- Feelings such as fear, horror, anger, guilt, or shame
- Loss of interest in things you used to enjoy
- Feeling distant or cut off from people
- Trouble experiences enjoyable feelings such as happiness or love
- Trouble falling or staying asleep
- Taking excessive risks or doing things that could cause you harm
- Feeling jumpy, easily startled, or "super alert," watchful or on guard
- Irritable behavior, angry outbursts, or acting aggressively
How to Cope with PTSD
Should many of the symptoms listed above persist one or more months after a traumatic event, and these symptoms are significantly impacting your ability to function at work and in personal relationships, it is recommended that you seek help from a trained professional as soon as reasonably possible. If you choose not to seek out professional help then test different approaches, like some of the things listed below, to help calm your mind and body as you work through and try to make sense of the experience. It is recommended though that you seek professional care, especially with a person trained in the use of EMDR or Somatic Experiencing Therapy.
- Reaching out to or creating a support system (i.e. family/friends, counselors, psychiatrists, or support groups)
- Deep breathing - filling your lungs up from the bottom of the lungs first to the top of the lungs and slowly exhaling
- Grounding exercises - i.e. counting objects or colors in your surroundings using your six senses (grounding)
- Meditation
- Yoga
- Avoiding caffeinated beverages
- Healthy diet
- Journaling
- Creative arts - some clients really enjoy the adult coloring books that have been trending lately
- Calming music
- Some people have found video games and virtual reality to be of help to them