How to stop PTSD triggers

PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) can be triggered in many different ways.  Every day you are experiencing millions of sensations through every one of your senses.  From looking at the clock when you wake up, to smelling the restaurant that you pass on your way to work, you are constantly taking in your surroundings and storing them within you.  All of these experiences are kept somewhere within your system and when you re-experience them (e.g. passing the same restaurant chain in a different city), memories/feelings you were having when you originally experienced the sensation come up.    So if you were very happy with your homelife when you first drove by that restaurant, it will most likely elicit happy feelings when you experience it again.

So how do you stop these triggers from happening?

The most effective way is to get into counseling with a professional counselor who specializes in PTSD treatment.   They can help identify triggers and teach you ways to extinguish them.   A few ways they might do that is:

Desensitization:

This is where a therapist will walk you through the trigger in detail while implementing relaxation techniques so that you learn to experience the trigger while relaxed.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy:

This is where the therapist will work with you on how you think about the trigger.

EMDR:

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy works by having you watch a light or listen to audio (or utilizing one of your other senses) experience bilateral stimulation (the light or audio moving back and forth as you listen/watch) while you are thinking about the trigger.   To read more about EMDR therapy for trauma and EMDR therapy for PTSD, click here.

At Long Beach Therapy, we believe the best therapist for PTSD is the one who you feel safest with. If you call looking for a therapist for PTSD in Long Beach, we have options of different therapists so that you can get the one you feel the most safe/comfortable with to start your journey of healing.  If you are ready to take the first step, give us a call Long Beach Therapy to schedule an appointment.