PTSD and Trauma
Trauma has many causes
Emotional or physical abuse by a parent, family member, spouse, dating partner, colleague, boss, or somebody else can have a lingering effect on your life.
Robbery, being mugged, sexually assaulted, subjected to a life-threatening accident, or experiencing difficult situations in military conflict can create a long-term condition known as post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. A trauma can occur in a moment, or it can occur during a season of life over months or even years.
Although the event happened in the past, situations in the present similar to your traumatic experience can trigger you – making you relive that experience in sudden, unpleasant, and unexpected ways. This makes it difficult to be rational about how you think and feel in the moment.
Dealing with trauma has unique challenges
Rather than talking about that event, you change the subject. Avoidance of media, television, or social situations that remind you of the experience seems the best way not to get re-triggered.
You might feel some level of dissociation or disembodiment, and you may become tense. It’s like you’re on autopilot and fearful of addressing what happened. Your body can react with panic, adrenaline, or tension.
Some people feel shameful or guilty. Others may feel anger, confusion, anxiety, or sadness. Talking about it hasn’t worked because when you do, your heart races, you feel freaked out, and you want to check out.
Therapy can help you move on with life
You want to feel differently, but starting the process can feel triggering. Your body and brain must re-learn how to work together. It is possible to do this! Unpacking trauma with your spouse or family hasn’t worked; perhaps some past therapy wasn’t useful.
I have experience working with trauma. I have helped people understand the past, re-learn to live in the present, and re-inhabit their minds and bodies in a more comfortable way.
It can be frightening to seek help for trauma, but it’s time to get the assistance you deserve. Let me be your guide, and let’s get your life back on the path you want to be on.
You need a guide for the journey. Contact me today to discuss how we can work together.