Updated: Mar 23, 2023
Symptoms. Effects. Treatment. Relief.
Did you know approximately 70% of adults have experienced a traumatic event in the US at least once? To put this number in perspective, that is over 220 million Americans. – Trauma affects everyone!
You are not alone
Moreover, you will know at least one close person affected by trauma and would likely meet the criteria for PTSD or C-PTSD. PTSD can occur without one's control and awareness.
Several factors can increase the chances of developing PTSD. Such factors include but are not limited to direct exposure to a traumatic experience. Repeated exposure can further increase the risk.
PTSD Symptom Checklist:
Symptoms associated with PTSD
Are you mostly spending your daily experience in a guarded state?
Are you easily startled or frightened?
Are you experiencing irritability, angry outbursts, or aggressive behavior?
Are you experiencing overwhelming feelings of guilt or shame?
Do you have trouble sleeping?
Do you have trouble concentrating?
Symptoms associated with C-PTSD
Are you feeling worthless and experiencing shame and guilt?
Are you having trouble controlling your emotions?
Are you finding it difficult to connect with other people?
Are you having trouble keeping friends and romantic partners?
Still not sure —> click here (we'll email you a free quiz)
What is the difference between experiencing a traumatic event and living with trauma?
While many people experience traumatic events, it does not always lead to a diagnosis of PTSD or C-PTSD. The difference is the symptoms that follow a traumatic experience that does not go away and stay with you.
Such symptoms include but are not limited to being on guard due to a perceived danger throughout your daily experience, difficulty regulating your emotions, trouble sleeping, being easily frightened, and or difficulty forming or maintaining social relationships.
What is the difference between PTSD and C-PTSD?
The main difference between PTSD and C-PTSD is the prolonged exposure to traumatic events that lasts for months and sometimes years, leading to slightly different symptoms. Typically C-PSTD is linked to childhood trauma exposure and or exposure to oppression. Symptoms include but are not limited to feelings of worthlessness and difficulty building or maintaining social relationships, which are usually not present in PTSD. Sometimes an individual can form friendships while struggling to maintain intimate relationships. In other situations, one can build relationships with a significant other while not forming and maintaining other social connections. Can you relate to or know someone who does?
Physical effects and trauma
Untreated trauma will activate your nervous system in a fight or flight response, leading to a suppressed immune system, increased susceptibility to physical illness, and decreased quality of life. Think of it this way, if you drove your car every day flooring the gas pedal, how would it impact the performance of the car? If you answered your car would likely break down sooner and eventually become un-operational, you are correct! Just like a car, the body is designed to balance the state of physical and mental excursion with taking breaks. When this process is disrupted, the body will eventually lead to a breaking point.
Mind-Body Connection
Staying in a perpetual state of tension will not only lead to the breakdown of your body but will impact your mental health. If you are stuck in a perpetual state of perceived danger, you will likely feel anxious and on edge. Such a state of discomfort
will impact your work and relationship performance. Moreover, being physically sick will decrease your ability to function, likely lower your self-esteem, and start breeding negative self-talk and a negative outlook on life.
Social isolation
A negative self-perception and a negative outlook on life will likely decrease one's desire to connect socially and reduce the quality of social interactions, leading to isolation and withdrawal. Social isolation will likely strengthen a negative self-perception and outlook on life, feeding a depressive cycle. The brain requires social connections to feel good whether you identify as an introvert or an extrovert. Disruption of social relationships due to trauma is directly correlated with negative self-talk, reduced joy, and a likely depressive episode.
Trauma, Self-Destructive Behavior, and Addiction
As one continues to isolate, destructive behavior patterns are a matter of time. Addiction to alcohol and or other drugs is not uncommon at this point. Suppose one is unable to manage the symptoms of depression that are triggered by unresolved trauma. In that case, the quality of life will deteriorate to the point that the pain associated with existence can become too difficult to bear.
Trauma, Self-esteem, and Depression
Once one builds a relationship with a substance as a primary source of managing symptoms associated with trauma, chemical dependence can lead to losing self-control. The loss of self-control will likely lead to the loss of self-respect, guilt, shame, isolation, and physical illness, often following low self-esteem.
How We Differ
In the past ten years, we have worked with our clients, helping them heal from trauma. The healing process can be broken down into five phases outlined below.
1. Understanding what trauma is and the healing process.
2. Learning how to relax.
3. Constructing a trauma network.
4. Neutralizing trauma memories.
5. Integration of new networks of the self and the world.
Phase one is focused on normalizing the experience of trauma and helping the client understand what to expect as we work the healing process and why they feel the way they do. Phase two focuses on psycho-education and in-session training exercises such as grounding exercises, mindfulness training, and diaphragmatic breathing techniques. Phase three focuses on constructing the trauma network, raising the surface of the experiences that lead to trauma symptoms to the surface. Phase four is focused on using CBT or EMDR to process trauma networks and neutralize them. Phase five focuses on integrating new ways of objectively seeing yourself and the world around you, leading to healing.
Why do you use CBT and EMDR?
We have discovered that an eclectic approach is more effective in healing trauma, which is why we use CBT and EMDR as tools that might work for some and not others. For example, for some of our clients, CBT has helped them process trauma memories, while for others, EMDR has been more effective. Having more options helps address individual differences and supports our philosophy to approach each of our clients as individuals offering them options and ultimately leading to the results they seek by choosing to start a relationship with us.
Take the next step.
Connect with what you learned about our approach, schedule a free consult today, and learn how to start building a plan that will work for you.
