PTSD Counseling
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is commonly associated with veterans or first responders who have experienced war or other violent acts. After their experiences, they exhibit symptoms of PTSD such as extreme anxiety, combat-related flashbacks, unpredictable aggression, and mood and memory disturbances. However, PTSD is not limited to military personnel. In fact, it can and does occur in many individuals, both adults and children, who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event including natural disasters, serious accidents, terrorist act, rape or other violent personal assault or trauma.
How to find relief from PTSD or Trauma
PTSD Counseling is the most effective method to relieve symptoms in individuals suffering from PTSD. Our therapists at Lifeologie are trained in multiple approaches including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Mindfulness and Meditation, Group Therapy, and other alternative approaches. Your therapist may use one or multiple approaches to assist you in overcoming the traumatic experiences so that you can go on to live a normal life.
How do I know if I have PTSD?
Following a traumatic event, stress-related symptoms, including hypervigilance, are upgraded to a diagnosis of PTSD when the following indicators present for longer than a month:
- You experience intrusive flashbacks, memories, or nightmares that force you to relive the traumatic event on continuous playback. Re-experiencing the event can occur consciously (at the level of your awareness) or by dissociation (blacking out and retaining little or no memory of the intrusive episode)
- You encounter a trigger that stimulates your memory of the traumatic event, triggering an intense, physiological reaction, characterized by extreme distress or anxiety.
- You become hyper-vigilant or develop an exaggerated startle mechanism. For instance, if you were in a bad car accident in which another vehicle T-boned you at a stoplight, you may flinch whenever you notice cars in your peripheral vision
- You avoid situations, places, people, or conversations that dredge up memories of the incident
- As your symptoms worsen, you experience detachment (numbness or lack of connection) and self-estrangement (social withdrawal) as you attempt to distance yourself from others
- You develop anhedonia, the inability to feel pleasure – you can no longer obtain enjoyment from activities that once gave you pleasure (including hobbies, interests, sex, etc.)
- Insomnia: you have nightmares or an overly active mind that switches to “on” before bedtime and you lie awake for hours, staring at the ceiling.
- You may develop a distorted world or self-view, in which you perceive your world and the people who inhabit it as inherently dangerous.
- You may feel emotions associated with guilt, shame, or self-loathing—despite not being to blame for your situation and your condition.
- When someone startles you or you feel endangered, you may respond with unpredictable aggression—something in you snaps and you react without taking time to assess the situation.
- You may also display impulsivity in other ways: reckless driving, frequent, unprotected sexual encounters, substance abuse, self-harm, or anorexia/bulimia/binge-eating, etc.
- Thoughts of Suicide: if your symptoms become severe enough, you may begin to wish for your own death as a means of escape from the pain. Seek help immediately if you begin to contemplate suicide. PTSD is treatable—but suicide is permanent!
Where to get help for PTSD or Trauma
The counselors at Lifeologie Counseling San Diego are here to help you. Should you or someone you love have symptoms of PTSD, call us to set up an appointment.
