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Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Trauma Changes You — But Healing Is Possible

When something traumatic happens — whether suddenly or over time — your nervous system can become overwhelmed. It might feel like the event is still living inside your body and mind, long after it’s over.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can develop after any experience that was deeply overwhelming, threatening, or made you feel powerless. This includes events like accidents, abuse, natural disasters, medical trauma, witnessing harm to others, or long-term emotional invalidation.

For highly sensitive people, trauma often hits even deeper. You may notice that certain sounds, images, places, or even thoughts send your body into a spiral of anxiety, fear, or shutdown. You may feel stuck in survival mode — and unsure how to get out.

Understanding PTSD

Not everyone who experiences trauma develops PTSD, but when it does happen, it’s not something you can just “get over.” It affects your body, thoughts, emotions, and relationships. PTSD symptoms tend to fall into four categories:

1. Re-experiencing symptoms

  • Flashbacks or vivid memories that make you feel like the trauma is happening again

  • Nightmares or distressing dreams

  • Intrusive thoughts you can’t control

  • Physical symptoms like racing heart, sweating, or nausea

  • Intense emotional distress when triggered

2. Avoidance symptoms

  • Avoiding people, places, or situations that remind you of what happened

  • Shutting down emotionally or avoiding thoughts and feelings

  • Changing your routines to stay “safe,” even when there’s no actual danger

3. Arousal and reactivity symptoms

  • Feeling constantly on edge or hyper-alert

  • Sleep problems or chronic restlessness

  • Irritability or angry outbursts that feel hard to control

  • Difficulty concentrating

  • Engaging in risky, impulsive, or self-destructive behaviors

4. Cognition and mood symptoms

  • Trouble remembering parts of the traumatic event

  • Negative beliefs about yourself or the world

  • Ongoing feelings of guilt, shame, anger, or fear

  • Feeling disconnected from others or emotionally numb

  • Loss of interest in things that used to matter

  • Struggling to feel happiness or hope

If these symptoms last for more than a month and interfere with your daily life, it may be PTSD. And the good news is — it is treatable.

You Can Heal — Even if It Feels Impossible Right Now

PTSD is incredibly painful, and there are evidence-based treatments that work. I offer DBT-Prolonged Exposure (DBT-PE) — a powerful therapy designed to help people safely process traumatic memories and reclaim their lives.

Research shows that:

  • 71–80% of people who complete DBT-PE experience full PTSD remission

  • Recovery rates for co-occurring conditions like depression, anxiety, and substance use are as high as 60–100%

Healing from trauma takes courage, patience, and support — and you don’t have to do it alone.

Let’s Begin Your Healing

If you’re ready to take the first step toward healing from trauma, I’d be honored to support you.
Schedule a free consultation and let’s talk about what healing could look like for you.

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