Effective PTSD Treatment

Have you experienced a traumatic event? Are you suffering from lingering fear and anxiety? Do you feel like you no longer have any control over your thoughts, emotions, or actions?

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, is a mental health condition that can occur in individuals who have been exposed to a traumatic event through directly experiencing or witnessing it. Individuals can also be exposed to a traumatic event indirectly through learning a loved one experienced it or repeated exposure to the aversive details of a traumatic event in the work place (e.g., first responders). The American Psychiatric Association (APA) defines a traumatic event as an actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence. Based on this definition, exposure to a traumatic event can include the direct or indirect exposure to a natural disaster, an act of war, a serious accident, rape or other sexual assault, or any other violent personal assault.

According to data from the World Health Organization, more than 70% of people will experience a traumatic event in their lifetime. Estimates from 2020, suggest that approximately 5% of the US adult population has PTSD. Among those exposed to a traumatic event, 10 to 20% will develop PTSD. However, these rates can vary based on the type of trauma, with up to 50% or more of sexual assault survivors developing PTSD.

Research has also documented that individuals can also experience PTSD symptoms when exposed to a stressful event that does not meet the APA’s definition of a trauma. Such stressful events can include, but are not limited to: neglect or emotional abuse, betrayal trauma and moral injury, divorce, chronic illness, bullying, racism, and death of a loved one due to natural causes.

What are the Common Symptoms of PTSD?

People with PTSD often experience intense thoughts and feelings related to their traumatic experiences. These symptoms persist for an extended period of time after the initial event. Intense emotions may include fear, anger, and sadness, which can be described as being emotionally “hijacked.” People with PTSD often relive the event through intrusive memories, flashbacks, and nightmares despite significant attempts to avoid people and situations that may remind them of the event. Individuals with PTSD may also become hyper-vigilant to the point where ordinary sounds or incidents may cause a strong and uncontrollable reaction. For these and other reasons, people with PTSD may isolate or detach themselves from friends, family, and others in their community.

Trauma Symptoms

The DSM-5 classifies trauma symptoms into four groups:

Avoidance Behaviors:

• Avoiding specific locations, sights, situations, and sounds that serve as reminders of the event
• Anxiety, depression, numbness, or guilt

Re-experiencing:

• Intrusive thoughts, nightmares, or flashbacks

Hyperarousal:

• Anger, irritability, and hypervigilance
• Aggressive, reckless behavior, including self-harm
• Sleep disturbances

Negative Mood and Cognitions:

• Loss of interest in activities that were once enjoyable
• Difficulty remembering details of the distressing event
• Change in habits or behavior since the trauma

People Can Recover from PTSD with Treatment

There are several evidence-based treatments that can help with PTSD. We specialize in the following PTSD therapies.

• Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) – CPT is a gold standard treatment for PTSD and other trauma-related diagnoses with substantial scientific evidence for helping people recover from trauma. This modality focuses on how a person’s thoughts and beliefs have been changed by their trauma. A CPT therapist helps their client work through stuck points, which are certain thoughts related to the trauma that prevents the person from recovering. 
• Prolonged Exposure (PE) – PE is another gold standard treatment for treating PTSD and other trauma-related diagnoses with a large volume of scientific support. PE is a form of brief cognitive behavioral therapy and an extension of emotional processing theory that uses exposure techniques to help people process their trauma. A PE therapist helps a trauma survivor process the emotions of their trauma to attenuate their trauma-related symptoms.
• Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) – ART is relatively newer treatment with an emerging body of evidence suggesting it’s effective for reducing PTSD symptoms. ART shares many similarities to Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR) and was developed by a former EMDR clinician. However, ART requires fewer sessions, with many individuals reporting symptom remission after one session.
• Trauma-Focused Acceptance Commitment Therapy (TFACT) – TFACT is a promising treatment for trauma-related diagnoses that is gaining empirical support in research. TFACT is a compassionate, exposure-based approach to using acceptance commitment therapy to help people recover from trauma. In this modality, the therapist helps clients to open up and accept what has happened, remain present when distress related to the trauma is activated, and move forward with a value-based life through committed action. TFACT can be used as a stand-alone treatment for trauma but can also be combined with other evidence-based therapies, such as CPT.

If you or a loved one suffer from PTSD symptoms and, please reach out to us to explore treatment options. There is strong evidence for psychotherapy as first-line treatments for PTSD and trauma. Hope and relief are possible, with the majority of our clients experiencing significant improvement in trauma and depression symptoms through these therapy approaches.