ARE YOU STRUGGLING TO COPE WITH A TRAUMATIC EVENT?
Do you find yourself constantly on edge? Are you often overwhelmed with intense emotions? Do you have you unwanted memories about a particular experience?
We’re here to help.
DO ANY OF THESE SOUND FAMILIAR?
- You thought what happened was “no big deal”, but you can’t stop thinking about that day.
- You have been keeping the event or the experience to yourself, feeling shame about sharing it and fearful of judgment, even with people who you’re very close to.
- Sometimes you feel overcome with fear, even though you’re perfectly safe.
- You have trouble focusing, startle easily, and always feel like you’re on high-alert.
- You are haunted by memories from a specific event, even if it didn’t feel significant at the time.
- You get triggered by something that reminds you of the trauma, even if it is harmless.
Your life doesn’t need to be dominated by the trauma you experienced.
People often think that PTSD and other trauma-related struggles are unique to veterans or people in the military. That is actually not true – you can struggle with PTSD-like symptoms after things like car accidents, house fires, witnessing acts of violence, a traumatic loss of a loved one, or even things that happened during childhood.
When you experience something traumatic, it can impact many different parts of your life. You might struggle with depression, or anxiety. You might find yourself fighting with loved ones, directing your anger at them for what feels like no reason. You might also feel like you’re “losing it”, unable to concentrate and struggling at work or school. These are all common symptoms of PTSD and signs that you might need some extra support to work through the memories of the event.
LEARN TO LIVE AGAIN.
Healing from a traumatic experience sometimes takes a specific type of therapy. At Lincoln Park Therapy Group, we utilize two trauma-focused therapeutic approaches to support you.
EMDR is therapeutic technique that helps clients to access and process traumatic memories, allowing you to heal from the traumatic memories and alleviating the painful PTSD symptoms. It works through a process called “bilateral stimulation” and guides you to deal with the cognitive, physical, and emotional distress you’re feeling caused by your trauma.
Cognitive Processing Therapy is a form of Cognitive Behavior Therapy that is specific to dealing with trauma. This therapeutic approach focuses on how the trauma you experienced might have altered your thoughts and beliefs, which in turn might be impacting your feelings and behaviors and creating barriers to your healing. Cognitive Processing Therapy is conducted over 12 sessions, and can be an appropriate supplemental treatment to your regular therapy process.
What if your trauma didn’t have power over you anymore?
Therapy can be a life-changing experience for people struggling with a trauma. Whether it was something that happened years ago or an event that occurred recently, our therapists can help you develop the tools to cope with the sense of overwhelm and chaos you might be feeling.
HOW DO I KNOW I NEED THERAPY?
This is a great question and one we hear frequently. If you find yourself experiencing any of these symptoms regularly, it’s likely that counseling would be helpful to you:
- Being easily startled and constantly feeling “on edge”.
- Feeling like you don’t have any control over your emotions or like your emotions control you.
- Crying frequently without knowing why you’re upset.
- Having unwanted memories or flashbacks of the event, even when you try not to think about it.
- Experiencing nightmares or having difficulty sleeping.
- Avoiding certain people or places because they remind you of what happened.
- Frequently feeling “numbed out” or like you are disconnected from your body or your mind.
- Difficulty focusing on things and constantly getting lost in thought for no reason.
- Feeling hopeless and like life will never return to “normal”.
Did you know that life doesn’t have to be this way?
These LPTG therapists specialize in Trauma/PTSD.
