Post-traumatic disorder (PTSD) first reached public awareness as the concept of “shell shock” — the debilitating nightmares, hyper-reactivity, and increased suicide risk that soldiers endured after returning home from the horrors of World War I. Now we know that PTSD symptoms can affect anyone who’s been exposed to any form of abuse, trauma, or life-threatening situation, whether they’re a veteran, accident victim, or incest survivor.
If you have PTSD, you may be struggling with your quality of life and suffering for a month or more from symptoms such as:
The American Psychiatric Association estimates that up to 3.5% of women and men in the U.S. suffer from PTSD. At the Soho Center for Mental Health Counseling on Bleecker Street in Manhattan, our caring team of psychotherapists help you recover from PTSD through a variety of evidence-based therapies, including EMDR.
When you’ve suffered a traumatic experience, your body’s fight-or-flight response can change the way your brain regulates stress hormones, including cortisol and norepinephrine. If you have PTSD, your brain keeps you in a hyper-reactive survival mode, long after the original traumatic event has subsided. Certain sounds or situations — such as a loud bang that sounds like gunfire — can trigger the fight-or-flight response, so that you relive the trauma again.
Although talk therapy and cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) can help you process your traumatic memories and develop new ways of coping with them, the process can take years. A new form of evidence-based therapy called EMDR uses a series of eye movements, hand tapping, and audible tones to disrupt your heightened stress response while actively remembering the traumatic event. Studies show that up to 90% of single-trauma sufferers get relief in just three 90-minute sessions, while 77% of combat veterans are free of PTSD after a dozen 50-minute sessions.
Getting help for PTSD through EMDR or other therapies means that you’re no longer alone.
When you come to the Soho Center for Mental Health for PTSD treatment, you get the support you need, when you need it.
After your initial consultation and assessment, your therapist may recommend you for EMDR as well as other therapies to help you cope with your symptoms, including stress management techniques and medication. Your therapist devises a customized treatment plan on your unique personal and medical history, present symptoms, and future goals.
By leaving your trauma in the past and concentrating on your present situation and future hopes, you re-gain control of your life. Without intrusive memories, flashbacks, and a persistent feeling of disconnection and fear, you can build the safe and secure life you deserve.
If your loved ones and family members have been affected by your PTSD, our counselors may suggest family therapy or couples counseling. If your PTSD led you to self-medicate with alcohol or drugs, you can break your addiction with substance-abuse counseling.
To get help for your PTSD so you can leave trauma behind, call us today, or book an appointment with our online form.
