PTSD & Trauma Treatment in Austin
trauma Therapy helps you manage the impact
Do You Feel Constantly Reminded Of Past Trauma?
Is there a painful experience in your past that still feels too present in your life? Do you feel flooded with overwhelming emotions every time you think about it? Maybe you find yourself constantly re-living the experience in flashbacks and intrusive memories. Or perhaps stressful situations remind you of it, causing you to withdraw from certain relationships and pass up opportunities for growth.
If the above description holds true for you, you may be dealing with trauma. In addition to flashbacks and PTSD symptoms, trauma can lead to unhealthy changes in mood and behavior. Perhaps you’ve become more anxious and irritable, and you cry more easily. Your whole world may seem thrown off balance—your sleep patterns, your eating habits, and even your work and relationships. It’s like the past is hanging over your head and affecting everything you do.
At Enteave Counseling, our Austin trauma therapists work with people experiencing PTSD and other effects of trauma. Treatment focuses not only on managing symptoms, but also on understanding how past experiences continue to influence your present life and helping you respond to those experiences differently.
You do not need to recount every detail of what happened before trauma therapy can begin.
What PTSD and Trauma Can Look Like in Everyday Life
Many people associate PTSD with flashbacks or nightmares, but trauma can affect people in less obvious ways as well.
You may find yourself constantly scanning for danger even when you know intellectually that you are safe. You may become startled easily, feel unusually irritable, have difficulty concentrating, or struggle to relax.
Other people notice emotional changes. You may feel detached from people you care about, emotionally numb, unusually angry, ashamed, anxious, or unable to enjoy things that once mattered to you.
Trauma can also change behavior. You might avoid particular people, places, conversations, situations, or activities because they remind you of what happened. Sometimes that connection is obvious. Other times, you may not understand why a particular situation makes you suddenly uncomfortable.
Common trauma and PTSD symptoms can include:
Intrusive memories or unwanted thoughts about what happened
Flashbacks or feeling as though an experience is happening again
Nightmares or disrupted sleep
Avoiding reminders of the trauma
Feeling constantly alert or on guard
Irritability or anger
Difficulty concentrating
Emotional numbness or detachment
Anxiety or panic
Changes in mood
Difficulty trusting other people
Physical reactions when reminded of an experience
Feeling disconnected from yourself or your surroundings
Difficulty maintaining relationships
Shame, guilt, or negative beliefs about yourself
You do not need to experience every symptom on this list to seek trauma counseling.
Therapy Can Help You Process, Resolve, And Heal From Trauma
When you’re dealing with trauma or PTSD, merely coping and finding relief is probably your biggest wish. And while we want to teach you how to cope with and manage your symptoms, we also want to help you heal in the long-term. As painful and overwhelming as trauma can be, it doesn’t have to affect you forever. The strategies and skills you learn here can help you remove the negative emotions associated with your trauma and move forward with peace and assurance.
In the beginning, you and your therapist will discuss your needs, identify your goals and create a treatment plan together. From there, we will help you explore new ways to regulate your emotions and remain calm when you’re stressed. Additionally, you will learn to recognize what happens to your brain and body when you’re triggered by traumatic memories. For instance, maybe your heart races, your palms get sweaty, or you start to dissociate. By identifying your stress responses, you can learn to stop harmful feelings and sensations before they overwhelm you.
Approaches We May Use for PTSD and Trauma Treatment
There is no single trauma therapy that is appropriate for every client.
Enteave therapists may draw from different treatment approaches depending on your symptoms, history, preferences, and goals. Two approaches currently used within our practice include Cognitive Processing Therapy and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing.
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)
Trauma can change what you believe about yourself, other people, and the world.
You might conclude that nowhere is safe, that you should have prevented what happened, that you cannot trust anyone, or that something about the experience permanently changed your worth.
Cognitive Processing Therapy, or CPT, helps clients identify and examine trauma-related thoughts and beliefs such as these.
The purpose is not to convince yourself that what happened was acceptable or unimportant. Instead, CPT can help you evaluate whether conclusions formed around the trauma continue to be accurate or useful today.
By examining the relationship between the traumatic experience, your thoughts about it, and the way those thoughts affect your emotions and behavior, you can begin developing a different relationship with the experience.
EMDR Therapy
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, commonly known as EMDR, is another approach some Enteave therapists use for trauma treatment.
EMDR uses a structured therapeutic process that combines attention to distressing memories with bilateral stimulation, such as guided eye movements or other alternating sensory input.
Rather than simply discussing an experience session after session, EMDR is designed to help the brain process traumatic memories so that reminders of the event may become less emotionally disruptive.
Your therapist can explain what EMDR involves, whether it may be appropriate for your concerns, and how the process would fit into your overall treatment plan.
You do not need to decide before your first appointment whether CPT, EMDR, or another approach is right for you.
That is something you and your therapist can determine together.
Choosing a PTSD Therapist in Austin
Searching for a trauma therapist can feel different from looking for counseling for a more general concern.
You are considering discussing something painful, vulnerable, or difficult to explain. Feeling comfortable with the person treating you therefore matters.
Credentials and trauma-treatment experience are important, but they are not the only considerations.
You may also want to ask:
Does this therapist regularly work with trauma or PTSD?
What treatment approaches do they use?
How do they determine when a client is ready for trauma-focused work?
What happens if discussing something becomes overwhelming?
Will treatment involve practical strategies as well as talking?
How will we determine whether therapy is helping?
A therapist should be able to answer questions about how they approach treatment without expecting you to disclose your entire history during an initial conversation.
You may have some questions and concerns about trauma therapy…
I can’t handle talking about my trauma.
Here in trauma therapy, we aim to go at your own pace. We know how hard it is to talk about trauma, so we will never ask you to share anything you’re not comfortable sharing. Our team of therapists is well-trained in helping clients work through trauma and PTSD without making them feel triggered or re-traumatized. Moreover, counseling with us is not limited to merely talking—we want to give you skills you can use to regulate your emotions and find relief in day-to-day life.
I don’t want to be judged for my experience.
Our office is a judgment-free zone, and our foremost goal is to ensure you feel accepted and validated. Besides, your trauma is not your fault—the stress responses your brain has developed are a natural reaction to what happened to you. In order to keep you safe, your body sends alarm signals to your brain whenever you are reminded of your traumatic experience. Rather than judge you for your responses, our practice seeks to help you understand why these reactions to stress have developed and whether or not they help you.
I should be able to handle my trauma alone.
It isn’t always possible to overcome trauma and PTSD alone. This is true no matter how self-aware or intelligent you are. But by having someone to provide new insights and bounce new ideas off of, you can come to a deeper understanding of your trauma and, more importantly, yourself.
Experience Healing In Both Your Mind And Body
Whether you experienced neglect, sexual abuse, military combat, the loss of a loved one, or any other life-changing event, trauma therapy can help you experience healing in every aspect of your life. To begin your journey with us, you can call 512-350-6236, email us, or schedule an appointment on our website.
Right now, because of COVID-19, all our trauma treatment sessions are online.
