Trauma Informed Therapy (TIC) for PTSD in Pearland, TX

3 months following a traumatic event, you continue to experience some combination of the following:

• Uncontrolled reminders – flashbacks, intrusive thoughts and/or nightmares
• Avoidance – people, places or memories of the trauma
• Negativity – feeling bad about self and the world, amnesia about parts of the event
• Heightened arousal – irritability, increased startle response, hypervigilance

• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Obesity
• Heart disease
• Chronic pain
• Fatigue
• Digestive issues
• Immune disorders
• Substance use

Trauma is a general term that refers to a specific set of response following an event. It is a normal reaction to an abnormal situation.

• Ongoing abuse/neglect (bullying, belittling, ignoring)
• Cumulative microaggressions (repeated homophobic or racial slurs)
• Physical and/or sexual abuse (one time incident or ongoing)
• Single incident trauma (car accident, mugging)
• Natural disaster (hurricane, tornado, earthquake)
• Medical trauma (botched surgery, chronic illness)
• Combat/war zone experiences
• Witnessing any of the above

• Acute – single, intense and deeply frightening event
• Chronic – repeated and prolonged abuse, such as domestic violence or molestation
• Complex – Multiple traumatic experiences across the lifespan
• Generational – beliefs and behaviors passed on to the next generation (such as the Great Depression and the Holocaust)
• Collective – experienced by a group of people at same time (9-11, COVID pandemic)
• Moral Injury – put in a position that challenges your values and beliefs, often includes making decisions for others (medical professionals)
• Vicarious – closely connected to, but not involved in the event (therapists, survivors support system, journalists) and develop symptoms of PTSD (safety concerns, isolation)

• Ongoing life stressors, such as work responsibilities, relationship struggles, and financial or health concerns can make a difficult situation harder
• Invalidation of the trauma or its potential consequences leads to feeling weak or incapable
• Lack of social support can lead to isolation, which can worsen already present symptoms
• Avoiding reminders delays your body’s ability to work through the trauma
• Substance abuse and other addictions only distract from the trauma, the underlying symptoms still remain
• New stressors can reactive existing symptoms

Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR), is a heavily researched therapy that uses your own brain, memory networks and physical sensations to process through the trauma. It allows your brain to transition from harmful thoughts (It’s my fault, I’m not good enough, I’m in danger) to accurate, healthy thoughts (I did the best I could, I am good enough, I am safe now). All work is done in session.

Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) is a very structured approach that challenges your thought processes. When you feel scared, you then believe you’re in danger and then behave panicky. Worksheets and homework allow you to break this cycle.

Prolonged Exposure (PE) focuses on challenging your nervous system one step at a time. It will start with something that is very mildly activating and increase intensity: imagining getting in the driver’s seat after a car accident), actually getting in the driver’s seat through driving past the accident scene. Calming techniques are used throughout so that your body remembers it can safely complete each of those steps.

PTSD wreaks havoc on the body. It tricks our brain into thinking that it’s always in danger, resulting in a constant state of fight, flight or freeze.

In order to protect us from future danger, it replays the event over and over again, without any control to stop it. We stay on high alert, scanning the world, looking for signs of risk. This fear of the world that’s running in the background makes it hard to concentrate and to get much needed sleep.

Other times it protects us by numbing our emotions. We may find ourselves zoning out for extensive periods, or that pieces of the memory are forgotten and can’t be retrieved.

All together, it is very confusing and hard to navigate. We fear that we are hurting or hindering loved ones, or that they don’t want to be around us because we’re crazy. This leads to isolation and loneliness, potentially escalating to substance use to find some relief.

Some people are more susceptible to developing PTSD than others:

• Severity and type of trauma (interpersonal violence is more impactful than a universal weather event)
• Prior history of anxiety or depression
• Prior traumatic experiences, even if they’re different in nature
• Lack of social support
• Lack of nurturing caregivers in early childhood
• Drug and/or alcohol use

What to do:

• Learn about PTSD in general, and for your loved one. What are their triggers?
• Listen to them, hear what their experience is like, or just sit in silence with them, next to them
• Validate that what they are experiencing is real and justified. There may not be an actual threat, but their fear is genuine
• Talk about it, ask questions (not about the trauma), bring it to light
• Keep them engaged in social activities and hobbies
• Help them find professional treatment for their Post Traumatic Stress

What not to do:

• Be impatient with slow progress, it takes time
• Push them to move outside their comfort zone too quickly
• Tell them to ‘get over it’ or ‘try harder’
• Be too positive, in an unrealistic way
• Not take care or your own needs
• Help them find professional treatment for their Post Traumatic Stress

Technically, when symptoms arise immediately after a trauma it is labeled as Acute Stress Disorder. If symptoms last longer than a month, then the PTSD diagnosis would be appropriate. Not everyone that has Acute Stress Disorder will develop PTSD.

For some, it may be months, even years, before symptoms actually develop. If the trauma is ongoing, such as domestic violence, molestation or active war zone, the symptoms may not appear until you are safe.

Treatment time is very much individualized. Factors include how log PTSD has been present, how many traumas have occurred, level of support and type of treatment. The most effective treatments are Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) and Prolonged Exposure (PE)