PTSD Treatment

When danger is perceived, the body’s automatic fight or flight response kicks into gear. However, when faced with life-threatening circumstances, an individual’s central nervous system can become overwhelmed to a point where it becomes stuck in a defensive state—triggering their physiological fight or flight reaction and causing them to experience cycles of emotional distress as they constantly relive traumatic events.

What counts as a traumatic event varies from person to person. However, a common misconception is that only violent or long-term stressful experiences can be considered trauma. The truth is anything that causes a stress reaction can be traumatic, and any traumatic events can cause lingering mental health effects. Whether you or a loved one has been diagnosed with a mental health condition like post-traumatic stress disorder (PSTD) or has been negatively impacted by trauma, LightHeart Associates can help through our PTSD treatment in Seattle. Contact our compassionate intake team today at 425.800.5688 to learn how our PTSD therapy can support your healing process.

How Can Trauma Impact Mental Well-Being?

Research on the effects and treatment of trauma has revealed that traumatic experiences often have a long-lasting physiological and psychological impact which may, depending upon the nature of the traumatic events, include:

• Disruption in the functioning of the centers of the brain that involve higher order, abstract thinking (including planning and prioritizing) and that regulate attention and concentration
• Heightened activity in the part of the brain that interprets threat and danger
• Sympathetic nervous system dominance, which can lead to hyper-vigilance with a sensitive startle response, agitation, anxiety, reduction in heart rate variability, heart palpitations, or difficulty sleeping
• A sense of disconnection or dissociation from others or the environment
• Sense of disconnection from one’s self and one’s own body, including poor self-care
• Tendency to relive (flashbacks) or reenact the traumatic events and distress upon exposure to anything that serves as a reminder of the events
• Nightmares
• Social withdrawal, including significant difficulty trusting others, even a spouse or partner
• Trouble controlling emotions
• Aggressive impulses based on an overactive sense of needing to defend oneself
• Confusion and inhibition in the area of sexuality
• Altered sense of meaning in life

At our PTSD treatment center, we offer comprehensive trauma-focused therapy to assist you in the recovery process. Our experienced, compassionate team of mental health professionals understands the importance of addressing long-standing and recent traumas to provide effective care.

What to Expect in Our PTSD Treatment

Our PTSD treatment is designed to heal you from traumatic experiences, utilizing a comprehensive approach that tailors therapy and strategies to your situation. Some of the methods we use include:

• Development of effective coping skills for regulating emotional states and physiology and for improving lifestyle habits
• Body-awareness exercises to facilitate the effective processing of emotions and reconnection with one’s own body
• Processing the emotional impact of the traumatic events to make greater sense of experiences that have produced significant pain and confusion
• Nutrition therapy to assist with rebalancing the central nervous system
• Referral, if necessary, for a medication evaluation (available at our practice)

Our PTSD treatment center holistically works with trauma survivors to restore healthy mind and body functioning so our clients can release the past and feel more genuinely alive in the present.