Have you experienced a traumatic event? Are you struggling to adjust back to normal life following the traumatic event? Consider reaching out to Thriveworks Counseling in Portage, MI for help. We have expert PTSD and trauma therapists on our team who are ready to help. Call us or book online to get started.
What Causes PTSD?
Post-traumatic stress disorder occurs after a traumatic event. While we often associate it with those who have been in armed conflict or witnessed an event such as a mass shooting or other violent event, it also occurs frequently in people who undergo interpersonal trauma, such as sexual assault or rape. PTSD can even manifest after an event such as a car accident, the death of a loved one, or a pregnancy- or childbirth-related trauma. It may occur in the immediate months after trauma, but sometimes it doesn’t show itself until years later.
If you have experienced a traumatic event, studies show that seeking therapy in the weeks and months immediately following may be helpful in preventing post-traumatic stress disorder from manifesting. Using talk therapy, the therapist will work with the client to process the event(s) instead of letting them become repressed and later festering.
But, if it’s been some time since the events, you may have already started to realize you’re having trouble processing them in a healthy way, or, you may believe you are experiencing full-blown PTSD. In that case, seeking help as soon as possible is one of the best ways to begin to heal.
What Is Therapy for PTSD Like?
Before you reach out, you may wonder what exactly therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder at Thriveworks Portage looks like. In our first sessions, we always focus on getting to know our new client. We want to know who you are, what makes you tick, and what events brought you into our office. We work to be approachable, so we hope to earn your trust through our initial sessions–we want our clients to feel comfortable opening up about their deepest struggles so we can help them heal.
You’ll find that many of our sessions are just that: asking questions and offering guided exercises to help you think about and process the trauma in an effective way.
While we will focus on talk therapy (also called cognitive behavioral therapy or CBT), if we—therapist and patient together—decide medication to manage symptoms would be appropriate, we may prescribe that medication to supplement the work being done in our talk sessions.
The primary goal of talking through the trauma will be to evaluate how you have been processing the trauma over time. From there, we want to help you learn a new story to tell yourself about the experience that facilitates changing your perspective to a healthy one that will serve you long term, such as, “I experienced something difficult, but I cope with it in a healthy way.”
Schedule PTSD Counseling at Thriveworks Portage
If you’re ready to get started, then nothing is standing in your way. Reach out to Thriveworks Portage today to schedule your first trauma therapy or PTSD counseling session. We offer evening and weekend sessions and take most major insurance plans. Also, we can often get new clients in for their first appointment within the same week of their reaching out. We look forward to hearing from you.
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