When we have a fever, we see a doctor, right? The same is the case with mental health issues. So, if you or your loved one has post-traumatic stress disorder, the first step is always to pursue PTSD treatments and therapy.

The earlier PTSD is dealt with, the more the chances of recovery and regaining control of your life. Your only chance to get over a traumatic experience is to face what happened to you and be able to accept it as part of your history. This process is called healing. Although healing can be slow or fast depending on the person; nevertheless, it becomes easy with guidance and assistance from a skilled professional or a therapist.

Remember, PTSD is not an indication of weakness or weaknesses. If anything, it is a sign of strength!

PTSD treatments align with human nature as they help one get rid of painful feelings and memories. However, if you attempt to put yourself in a state of numbness and forget about your experiences, PTSD will only worsen. Thus, this blog digs into PTSD treatments and why they are essential to pursue!

Importance of PTSD Treatments

It is difficult to eliminate the emotions that arise when you are stressed, feel violated or lose your guard. Trying to avoid or suppress these emotions is exhausting and will eventually,

• Harm your relationship
• Your capacity to function
• The overall quality of your life

PTSD Treatments help relieve PTSD symptoms and help you cope with the trauma you’ve endured.

In addition, a therapist or doctor can assist you in recollecting the broken ends of the traumatic memories. Hence, sorting through the emotions, you felt when you experienced the event decreases the impact of the memories on your life. Furthermore, you will consider your thoughts and emotions about the experience, deal with guilt and distrust, learn how to deal with the traumatic memories that haunt you and deal with the issues PTSD can cause in your relationships and life.

Most Effective PTSD Treatments

There has been a lot of research done on PTSD. Numerous PTSD Treatments are proven successful. Similarly, the symptoms of PTSD can also be treated with several forms of therapy. The following are some potential advantages of therapy:

• Reduced anxiety decreased signs of sadness.
• Lowering the likelihood that depressive symptoms will recur.
• Enhancing the abilities required for daily tasks.

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is most commonly used, considering PTSD Treatments. The goal is to alter the negative mental processes that interfere with your life. This may be accomplished through discussing your trauma or focusing on the source of your concerns.

Depending on your situation and the complexity of the disorder, group or family therapy may be better than individual counselling. Let us look at them more carefully:

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive Behavioural therapy focuses on trauma. It involves slowly “exposing” yourself to feelings and events that bring back memories of the incident—replacing the distorted and unreasonable beliefs about the incident with a more balanced perspective. It seeks to recognise those false conclusions and reorganise them in more beneficial ways.

CBT dramatically improves functionality and quality of life. Numerous studies have demonstrated that CBT is either successful or even more successful than other PTSD treatment options. The following are some of the founding ideas behind CBT:

1. Mental health problems can sometimes be attributed to incorrect or damaging thought processes.
2. Unwanted behavioural patterns that have been learned can cause some psychological issues as well.
3. People with psychological problems can increase their efficacy by strengthening their coping skills and managing their symptoms.

The fact that CBT has improved due to clinical and research-based practice must be emphasised. Our CBT therapy is backed by a plethora of scientific evidence showing that the strategies used do produce change.

Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)

One particular form of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is called cognitive processing therapy (CPT). For PTSD treatment, CPT is a 12-session therapy. CPT teaches you how to identify troubling thoughts you have been thinking since your trauma and how to modify them. You may alter how you feel by altering your thought processes. The main components of trauma-focused cognitive Processing therapy (CPT) include:

• Psychoeducation, Parenting and Relaxation.
• Expression, Regulation and Cognitive Coping Skills.
• Trauma Narrative and Processing using exposure.
• In-Vivo Exposure and Conjoint Therapy Sessions.
• Enhancing Personal Safety and Future Growth.

Family Therapy or Group Therapy

Family therapy assists your family members. When an individual is struggling with PTSD, the people around him/ her are at high risk of developing some mental health issue. Being aware of what you’re going through and assist you in overcoming relationship issues as an entire family.

Sometimes, medication is given to patients with PTSD to treat secondary symptoms of anxiety or depression, but they do not address the root causes of PTSD.

Prolonged Exposure (PE) Therapy

It is similar to CBT. It targets the propensity to develop negative thought patterns following a stressful incident. You might, for instance, have an excessive fear response compared to the threats you experience due to trauma. Prolonged exposure therapy starts with education about PTSD symptoms to alter your fear response.

Next, your therapist will teach you coping mechanisms that will help you defuse stressful situations. In most cases, prolonged exposure is given over three months with weekly individual sessions for eight to fifteen sessions. The average number of sessions required to engage in exposure and adequately assimilate the experience is 60 to 120 minutes.

Imaginal Exposure

When a patient engages in imaginary exposure, the therapist will guide them as they describe the experience in detail in the present tense. Together, the patient and the therapist discuss and work through the feelings sparked by the imaginal exposure during the session. While discussing the incident, the patient is being recorded so that the patient can listen to the audio between sessions, process the feelings further, and practise breathing techniques.

In Vivo Exposure

As part of the homework assignment, in vivo exposure—confronting frightening stimuli outside of therapy—is required.

Together, the patient and the therapist list a variety of potential triggers and circumstances linked to the traumatic phobia, such as certain locations or persons.

They agree on the stimuli to face during in vivo exposure and create a schedule for doing so in between sessions.

The patient is urged to push themselves, but to do it gradually to succeed in facing frightening stimuli and managing the emotion that goes along with them.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

It integrates elements of cognitive behavioural treatment using eye movements or other rhythmic, left-right stimulation, like tapping or sound. EMDR therapy follows a process of unfreezing the brain’s information processing system. This process is affected during extreme stress.

The technique is primarily known for treating people with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Complex PTSD. EMDR aims PTSD treatments by decreasing the negative emotions connected with the memories that reflect trauma. Our EMDR therapy for PTSD and C-PTSD usually involves eight phases, including:

• Gathering information about the patient and their past
• Preparation and education for setting the expectations
• Trauma assessment and coping with the distress
• Activating memory by desensitisation and reprocessing
• Installation of the positive beliefs you want to build
• Body scanning to help you focus on your body
• Closure and stabilisation to bridge later sessions
• Reevaluation and continuing care (if further care is needed)

Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT)

It is a clinical tapping therapeutic strategy. It is comparable to acupressure, a type of massage therapy that releases pain and tension by applying physical pressure to specific areas on the skin that are responsive to it. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends it as a low-cost treatment for PTSD because it has little if any, adverse effects.

This technique, created by Gary Craig, is simple to learn and usable almost everywhere. The theory behind this procedure is that “a disruption in the body’s energy system is the root of all unpleasant emotions.”

Using the groundbreaking Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), patients can recover from physical and emotional illness and pain. It’s a type of acupuncture therapy, that stimulates energy centres on the body using the fingertips rather than needles.

PTSD Treatments: Key Takeaways

If you want to learn more on this subject, feel free to read through our ultimate PTSD guide!

If you seek a therapist, you should seek professional PTSD Treatments and trauma therapists. Furthermore, you must ask your doctor or other trauma victims to refer you to a therapist or visit an area psychiatrist, mental hospital or counselling centre. Concise Medico is one of the best trauma therapist providers; however, beyond experience and credentials, choosing a PTSD therapy provider who makes you feel relaxed and secure is essential.

So, always be sure to trust your instincts and allow yourself to change your therapist if you do not like a therapist. You can always seek a different one because it is necessary to be comfortable and feel understood to benefit from PTSD Treatments.