Are you or your partner suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)? If so, it may be taking a toll on your marriage, and have both you and your partner feeling disconnected and lost.
In order to take steps toward healing your marriage, it is important to understand how PTSD can affect your relationship, and how counseling can help both the traumatized individual and their spouse.
Are you or your partner suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)? If so, it may be taking a toll on your marriage, and have both you and your partner feeling disconnected and lost.
In order to take steps toward healing your marriage, it is important to understand how PTSD can affect your relationship, and how counseling can help both the traumatized individual and their spouse.
Earlier in the week we shared a TED Talk about how to start a conversation about suicide. In the last few months we have had a number of big name celebrities die from suicide. Our media once again has become saturated with those who many of us look up to and their decision to take their own lives. According to Elana Premack Sandler L.C.S.W, M.P.H and her article on Psychology Today, there are 5 simple steps for suicide prevention.
When you or a loved one has suffered from a traumatic event, what can you expect when you seek treatment? There are a lot of different types of treatments out there, and the success always depends on the individual. But according to The American Psychological Association, there are four main types of treatments that they recommend during therapy for those suffering from PTSD.
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
- Cognitive Processing Therapy
- Cognitive Therapy
- Prolonged Exposure
CBT or Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a very common and well know treatment for clients who are seeking psychological help for their PTSD. It generally has the client focus on the behaviors, thoughts and/or feelings that they are associating with the trauma they experienced. When these behaviors, thoughts, and feelings are identified, they are then worked to change them from a negative pattern to a more positive one. When changing a behavior, it can then change the thoughts or feelings that go along with that behavior. And vice versa, changing the thoughts and feelings associated with a certain type of behavior can then in turn change the behavior.
CPT or Cognitive Processing Therapy is the specific type of CBT that allows clients to learn how to change the negative thoughts/feelings and behaviors associated with the trauma. It will give clients the tools to change and replace behaviors and thoughts in order to eliminate the negativity in their lives.
CT or Cognitive Therapy involves focusing on the thoughts a person is having that keeps bringing them back to the trauma and negative experience. CT will change or “interrupt” the thought process, in order to redirect the thoughts so that they are not having such an impact on the persons every day life.
Prolonged Exposure is a type of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy that has the client focus on the memories, thoughts and/or feelings they have been avoiding that surround the traumatic event. It helps the client get rid of the avoidance, and face the memories head on, in order to challenge the memories/thoughts/feelings. This can help the client become aware the memories do not need to be avoided, and can actually be worked through in a positive manner.
Whatever type of treatment is done, or is sought out by the client, we know this can be a very difficult time in a persons life. We encourage anyone who has suffered or is suffering from something traumatic to seek help. You deserve to feel better, and to have control over your life!
To read more on the treatments at APA go here.
We would like to highlight our very own Dr Sheri Clark, who does wonderful work in the area of anxiety and trauma. While all of our Counselors here see clients who are in need of services related to anxiety, depression and trauma in the past, Dr Clark completed the lengthy requirements for the Basic Training for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR).
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is an integrative psychotherapy treatment that has shown great success in patients suffering from traumatic events. It was developed to help distressing memories associated with a particularly traumatic event from ones life. EMDR has been extremely beneficial to people of all ages and helped to relieve psychological stressors.
Further, according to EMDR International Association EMDR is designated as an effective treatment by the American Psychiatric Association, the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and many other international health agencies.
If you would like to schedule an appointment with Dr Clark, or want to read more about her you can visit our website or call the office at 480-999-7070
