Have you ever experienced any form of trauma? Most everyone has experienced a traumatic situation but the level at which is impacts everyone is different. Many people think of trauma as abuse or military related trauma. But trauma can be experienced at all ages and from all types of events.
Classsically PTSD, or Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, is a psychiatric disorder that can occur following the experience or witnessing of a life-threatening events such as military combat, natural disasters, terrorist incidents, serious accidents, or physical or sexual assault in adult or childhood. However, in the last few years this definition has expanded to include braoder areas of traumatic experiences.
Most survivors of trauma return to normal given a little time. However, some people will have stress reactions that do not go away on their own, or may even get worse over time. These individuals may develop PTSD. People who suffer from PTSD often relive the experience through nightmares and flashbacks, have difficulty sleeping, and feel detached or estranged, and these symptoms can be severe enough and last long enough to significantly impair the person’s daily life. They may have difficulty focusing, thinking and performing in their daily lives.
When in danger, it’s natural to feel afraid. This fear triggers many split-second changes in the body to prepare to defend against the danger or to avoid it. This “fight-or-flight” response is a healthy reaction meant to protect a person from harm. But in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), this reaction is changed or damaged. People who have PTSD may feel stressed or frightened even when they’re no longer in danger causing them to stay in a constant flight or fight response much of the time.
By utilizing a neuro-restorative approach to trauma, we don’t just focus on the trauma and counseling treatments for trauma but on the whole system. By following the reserch from poyvagal systems by Steven Porges, research has taught us that you must treat the nervous system first for the best outcomes in treatment. As long as an individuals system stays in the alert state or in fight or flight they will not be able to process the counseling interventions which includes EMDR with maximum effectiveness.
We utilize a number of technologies to follow polyvagal theory and assist the system in moving out of a chronic PTSD state and into a more norm regulating state so that therapy/counseling will be most effective.