Counseling for PTSD

Counseling for PTSD has proven to be a very effective treatment. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that can develop after one witnesses or experiences a traumatic event involving physical harm or the threatening of such. Examples of events that could lead to PTSD include: exposure to combat or natural disaster; being a victim of rape, assault, or torture; suffering physical, emotional, or sexual abuse. There are a number of therapies recommended for victims of PTSD, including Eye-Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), exposure therapy, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). The goal of most PTSD therapies are to help change how the victim reacts to memories of the trauma.

    EMDR is a fairly new treatment for PTSD and researchers are somewhat unclear on how it works; however the therapy has proven to be quite successful in reducing symptoms. The treatment involves discussing the traumatic event in detail while the patient focuses on the therapist’s steadily moving finger. Symptoms of PTSD will not disappear overnight; however, EMDR is considered to be a short-term therapy. In some cases one session of EMDR has been sufficient, but a typical course of treatment is 3-10 sessions.

    Exposure therapy is another type of counseling for PTSD. During this type of therapy, the patient confronts their traumatic experience with the help of a therapist. Exposure therapy attempts to reduce the patient’s fear and anxiety associated with the trauma as well as change how the victim reacts to the stressful memories. By confronting the traumatic thoughts and situations during therapy, the patient will often learn strategies for coping, which can lead to the successful elimination of symptoms. For example, breathing exercises are often taught as a method for coping with posttraumatic stress. Progress will most often begin to occur after just 3 sessions of exposure therapy and relief will continue to increase throughout the following months; however patients have reported symptom relief after just one meeting.

    The last type of counseling for PTSD is CBT, which will introduce ways of coping with feelings of guilt, anger, and fear. The goal of CBT is to help the victim change how they think about themselves and the trauma and to help them understand how certain thoughts about the traumatic event will lead to stress and make symptoms worse. CBT treatment lasts between 6 weeks and 6 months, depending on the severity of traumatic event and how the individual is responding to the sessions.