Healing After Trauma: Different Approaches to PTSD Therapy

I have worked with survivors of trauma and abuse for over 25 years. I have been trained on many different methods to helping a client through their trauma so that they can begin living without PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) symptoms.

Many people come to therapy because of the nightmares, trouble sleeping, having flashbacks, and having intimacy issues because they cannot let their guard down.

For 10 years I worked using strictly a “person centered” approach to therapy. That means that I would let the survivor tell their story in their own way and not really guide them much. My main job was to make sure they felt safe and figured out ways to be safe. This process took a very long time, but it was what some people really needed.

Since then, I have been trained in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), FLASH Therapy Technique, and TF-CBT (Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy).

EMDR is research based and is a trauma therapy that helps people process distressing memories so they feel less emotionally intense and disruptive. It uses guided attention, often including eye movements or other forms of bilateral stimulation (like listening to an audio tone going back and forth), while the person briefly focuses on aspects of the traumatic memory.  

FLASH Therapy Technique is a form of EMDR used for Complex PTSD.  The Flash Technique is a trauma therapy method designed to reduce the distress connected to painful memories without requiring a person to focus on or describe the traumatic event in detail. During the process, the person focuses on a positive or engaging experience while briefly noticing the traumatic memory, which can help make the memory feel less upsetting and overwhelming

TFCBT is much more directive and is based on research. It entails actually retelling the story of what happened so the person creates new associations with the trauma with relaxation (which is learned in therapy) instead of fear. Research has shown that this type of therapy is effective in reducing symptoms (some of which are listed above), but is not always the preferred choice for survivors.

The benefit of your therapist knowing all of these approaches is that you can choose what you feel most comfortable with and the therapist can assess for the appropriateness of each method for the particular client.

If you would like to know more about options you have for therapy to help with the trauma that you have experienced, please call me or email me and I can talk to you about each approach and how each may benefit you in your particular situation. Then you can decide which you think would be most comfortable for you.

If you are looking for an therapy in Long Beach for PTSD or trauma, please give me a call to ask me a question or to set up an appointment.