Trauma and Related Disorders
Evidence-based care offers help to regain balance and move forward.
Trauma and Related Disorders
For some individuals, exposure to traumatic or stressful life events leads to problems with anxiety, distressing emotions (sadness, grief, loss), and symptoms like intrusive memories, reactivity, and avoidance.
Although most people recover over time after a trauma, others develop ongoing problems and benefit significantly from appropriate treatment.
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
PTSD can develop after individuals experience events that involve actual or threatened serious injury, death, or sexual violence. Symptoms of PTSD can develop related to these experiences if individuals have experienced them directly, witnessed these events happening to others, learned about these events happening to loved ones, or had repeated exposure to the details of these types of events (i.e., first responders, police officers). Common types of traumas that are linked to PTSD symptoms include serious accidents, physical assault or abuse, military combat, natural disasters, terrorist incidents, and sexual assault or abuse.
Individuals with PTSD experience at least some of each of four different types of symptoms:
(1) Intrusive thoughts/feelings related to the trauma, including distressing memories of the trauma, distressing dreams related to the trauma, flashbacks in which the person feels that they are reliving the trauma, and intense physical and/or psychological reactions and distress to cues that are related to the trauma (situations, places, feelings, body sensations, etc.);
(2) Avoidance of things associated with the trauma, including efforts to avoid memories, thoughts and feelings about the trauma, as well as avoiding external reminders of the event (i.e., people, places, objects, talking about the event);
(3) Negative changes in cognition and mood related to the trauma, including difficulties remembering parts of the traumatic event, strong negative beliefs about self/others/the world, feelings of self-blame, negative emotion states (fear, horror, anger, guilt), decreased interest in important activities, feeling detached from others, and difficulties experiencing positive emotions (love, joy);
(4) Changes in physical reactivity/arousal related to the trauma, including increased irritability/anger, exaggerated startle response, hypervigilance, concentration problems, sleep problems, and self-destructive behaviors
Acute Stress Disorder
Acute Stress Disorder is diagnosed when trauma-related symptoms occur shortly after a traumatic event and last less than a month. For some, symptoms ease on their own; for others, ongoing distress may evolve into PTSD. Early support can help prevent the onset of PTSD and other related problems.
Symptoms of acute stress disorder are very similar to those of PTSD, with some minor exceptions, and a diagnosis is given if symptoms are present between 3 days and 1 month following a traumatic event.
Adjustment Disorders
When stressful life events – such as divorce, job loss, illness, or other major life changes – trigger stronger-than-expected distress and difficulty functioning, this may be an adjustment disorder.
Adjustment disorders are diagnosed when symptoms that develop in response to these types of events involve marked distress that is greater than expected and also lead to impairment in important areas of functioning. Adjustment disorder reactions can involve predominant feelings of anxiety and/or depression, as well as changes in conduct.
Grief
Grief is the pain we experience after loss. It can occur after someone dies and after a non-death loss such as a divorce or losing a job. Grief is a natural response to loss, and we will all experience grief in our lifetime. Each person’s experience of grief is unique. There are many factors which can shape an individual’s response to loss including their relationship with the person who died and the circumstances of the death.
Although you may have heard of the five stages of grief, grief is a process that does not follow a linear trajectory. Not everyone will experience all the stages and often people go through the stages of grief multiple times. Each person has a unique experience of grief and there is no right way to grieve.
Whereas some can experience a more complicated grieving process and may find their mental health more impacted, the majority of grievers follow what has been called the “resilience” trajectory and experience relatively stable levels of functioning in response to loss. Research shows that grief therapy is effective for those who experience a more complicated grieving process and for those early in bereavement to help mitigate potential challenges.
Trauma Treatments We Provide
Healing from trauma looks different for everyone. Our clinicians are trained in the most rigorously researched trauma treatments available, so you can feel confident that the care you receive is backed by science — and delivered with compassion.
Prolonged Exposure (PE)
PE is a trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy that is a gold-standard treatment for PTSD. It typically takes 10-12 individual weekly sessions to complete, though treatment length may vary. The primary goal of PE is to gradually approach feelings, situations, and memories that have been avoided since the traumatic event. In doing so, we see changes in how you think about the traumatic event itself, and also how you see yourself, the world, and other people. Through approaching the memory and situations, you start to learn that you can slowly get back to the activities, connections, and experiences that make your life meaningful.
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)
CPT is a cognitive-behavioral therapy treatment for PTSD and related conditions, typically lasting around 12 sessions. CPT focuses on the connections between thoughts, feelings, behavior and bodily sensations with a particular emphasis on identifying how traumatic experiences change thoughts and beliefs, and how these thoughts influence current feelings and behaviors. An important part of the treatment is addressing ways of thinking that might keep individuals “stuck” and get in the way of recovery from symptoms of PTSD and other problems. Treatment also focuses on several themes that are often impacted by trauma, including issues related to safety, trust, intimacy, power/control, and esteem.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy - Prolonged Exposure (DBT-PE)
DBT-PE is a stage-based treatment designed to treat PTSD for individuals who also struggle with self-harm behaviors, suicidal behaviors, and/or individuals with multiple different diagnoses. The intervention incorporates PE (as described above) as part of the overall structure of DBT. This means that life-threatening and therapy-interfering behaviors (e.g., self-harm, suicidal behaviors, substance use) are addressed before beginning PE.
Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT)
TF-CBT is an evidence-based treatment for youth (ages 3-18 years) with PTSD and related difficulties. It is a components- and phase- based treatment that therapists provide individually and in parallel to youth and their parents or primary caregivers, with additional conjoint child-parent sessions. TF-CBT is structured around the “PRACTICE” components, psychoeducation, relaxation, affect regulation, cognitive coping, trauma narrative, in-vivo mastery, conjoint sessions, and enhancing safety.
Standard Outpatient Therapy
Our clinicians provide evidence-based treatment for trauma and related disorders.
Anxiety Intensive Treatment Program
Intensive services provide highly structured therapy multiple days per week for severe anxiety disorders when daily functioning is impaired or outpatient hasn’t worked.
Consultation
Clinicians offer consultations for those considering care at EBTCS or providers seeking clinical guidance to clarify fit, diagnoses, or next steps.
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