Traumatic Events and PTSD
Its over, why does it feel like it’s still happening?
A serious accident, unfortunate happening or near death experience has jolted daily life into a mental fight for survival. You’re alive and safe now but your heart still races, legs are trembling, and your mind shudders with the fear of it happening again. You find it hard to breathe and a simple word or noise brings you to tears. Others are reaching out with calls and texts, but the attempt at support falls flat and you feel even more isolated. Your once normal daily routine becomes an inner brawl between completing responsibilities and the urge to crumble. Running errands seems extra hard, finishing projects for work feels impossible, and restful sleep rarely comes. Maybe you feel you have to avoid any reminders just to function. People are confused why something from the past is still terrifying to you. You start to feel like you’re broken.
You didn't ask for this
Your body feels depleted and you could cry at any moment but you still have to finish that project at work, get the kids to school on time, and keep up with your social activities. Trauma doesn’t care how busy you are or what responsibilities you need to meet. Trauma is dysregulating which means you may not be able to sleep, eat, or focus like you could before. You could be experiencing symptoms of trauma due to any of the following;
Experiencing or witnessing an accident
Experiencing a threat to your physical or emotional safety
A natural disaster
The loss of a loved one
Abuse or neglect
Being trapped in a fearful situation
Many of my clients come to me because they feel the pressure to continue daily living as if nothing just happened, and they aren’t sure how to do that. They’ll be talking to a colleague and images from the accident will protrude their thoughts and they’ll lose their track of thinking mid conversation. They’ll be doing the dishes and have a panic attack because their bodies are still trying to grasp what has happened and there feels like no other choice but to be overwhelmed and scared all the time. Therapy may be for you if:
You saw or experienced something that was intense or horrifying and you’re still feeling the intensity of the moment weeks, months, or years later
You’re feeling horror and helplessness in day to day life
You feel the trauma has isolated you because others haven’t experienced what you went through
You relive the event in your head no matter how hard you try not to think about it
You’re having a hard time grasping what has happened
You find it difficult to focus
Struggling not to let trauma consume your present
My goal is for you to process through disturbances so your body and mind can function again and you can live in the present without fear of the past showing up. You may be feeling that you aren’t safe, you are out of control and powerless, you are alone or abandoned, or you can’t protect yourself. You may also be feeling inadequate, shameful, or like something is wrong with you.
When we meet for an intake, we will get a sense of the situation you are wanting to heal from and how I can help. I’ll help you determine what feelings are keeping you from being where you want to be; fear, anxiety, inadequacy, loss of control, etc. We’ll then reprocess these emotions and the trauma they came from with EMDR Therapy. This will look like thinking about the trauma while doing bilateral stimulation, which you can read more about here. This allows the trauma to feel less intense and stay in the past.
I’m excited to help clients who are wanting to reach the point where they can talk or think about their past traumatic experiences and feel empowered and calm versus activated and powerless.
