Category: Post Traumatic Stress / Trauma
The Good Therapy Blog
September 7th, 2010 |
Most of us are aware that communication and trust are key ingredients in any relationship, yet these pivotal ingredients are often negatively impacted by the vestiges of a traumatic experience.
Someone who has survived a traumatic event often struggles both with expressing her/himself and also with listening in an active manner. Active listening requires a certain amount of concentration as well as the absence of hypervigilance. However, post-trauma most people’s concentration level is below their pre-trauma baseline and their level of hypervigilance is higher than their pre-trauma baseline.... Read More
September 5th, 2010 |
Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil spill have drawn increased attention to the mental health and well being of those who experience major disasters. Recent studies have also illuminated the lack, even five years later, of adequate counseling, therapy, and mental health support for children affected by the hurricane. Now, the U.S. Department of Justice has found that children who have already been victimized (through peer violence, domestic abuse, parental maltreatment... Read More
© Copyright 2010 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Staten Island Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
September 3rd, 2010 |
In my practice, people trace depression back to trauma most of the time. Emotional trauma is an overwhelming shock to a person’s equilibrium. This may mean getting attacked emotionally, physically or sexually, or witnessing such attacks. It can happen in war, rape, murder, accidents, and even well-intentioned medical procedures. It can also happen in single or repeated incidents of shaming or emotional/verbal attack. It can even happen when heart-breaking losses of any kind occur.
When people are traumatized, it often shapes something they believe about themselves or about life. These trauma-induced... Read More
September 2nd, 2010 |
A GoodTherapy.org News Summary
Awareness of post-traumatic stress disorder and other psychological issues related to trauma has been particularly high over the past year, as increasing numbers of returning veterans struggle with the condition. However, troops deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq are not the first large group to suffer PTSD. Of veterans who are today older than 65 and who have been treated, for any condition, by the Veterans Administration, PTSD rates are around 36.4 percent. Some veterans with PTSD were directly injured during combat, while others were not injured but did experience... Read More
© Copyright 2010 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Fresno Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
August 27th, 2010 |
The National Guard, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and several Tennessee State Agencies are teaming up to help mental and behavioral health professionals become better equipped for treating military personnel. Through a military immersion training program, counselors and therapists will spend several days immersed in the military culture and lifestyle, including chores and duties, living in barracks, early morning exercise, and military meals. They will also hear presentations on... Read More
© Copyright 2010 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Silver Spring Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
August 26th, 2010 |
A GoodTherapy.org News Summary
Last November, an Army psychiatrist engaged in a public shooting at Ft. Hood, the U.S. Army’s largest base in the country. Paired with increasing rates of soldiers with PTSD—sometimes treated, and sometimes fighting for recognition of their struggles—the shooting put mental health and the military in the national spotlight. With overseas combat engagement now in its 9th year, mental health needs present at Ft. Hood are higher than ever before, often straining the base’s robust mental health staff. And it’s believed that even more troops may need help... Read More
© Copyright 2010 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Fort Lauderdale Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
August 24th, 2010 |
A GoodTherapy.org News Summary
“The shortage of mental health services in Portland is well documented,” notes Mike Sherbun of Cedar Hills Hospital. Now, a new program at that hospital is offering a range of much-needed services to help one portion of the population in particular: women. Named “Exclusively Women,” the program provides a number of different therapy strategies to help women overcome a number of different psychological and behavioral health issues. The program utilizes a number of mental health professionals... Read More
© Copyright 2010 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Sacramento Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
August 23rd, 2010 |
The ability to navigate life as it comes. Our Autonomic Nervous System is elegantly designed for negotiating our encounters with all that is unexpected, shocking, threatening, frustrating, painful, dangerous, or enraging that life throws our way. Our complicated social relationships and structures, medical interventions, and technology can at times effectively block our hard-wired ability to make our way through these events completely.
The nature of life as evolved beings pretty much ensures that no one escapes all stress, overwhelm and ultimately some degree of trauma. The dynamics that produce... Read More
August 19th, 2010 |
After pressure from the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the American Psychiatric Association, and state and federal government, BP has finally agreed to provide funding to address the psychological and behavioral health fallout of this summer’s massive oil leak in the Gulf Coast. In 2008, Congress ruled to recognize psychological and behavioral health as equivalent in importance to physical health. As such, BP’s previous refusal to provide funding for psychological health therapy, substance abuse counseling, and other... Read More
© Copyright 2010 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist San Francisco Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
August 17th, 2010 |
Before the public spotlight shone on the Army’s failure to diagnose post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), hundreds of soldiers who suffer from PTSD were discharged and labeled with personality disorder, according to a new report from the Associated Press. From 2005-2007, the Army discharged 1,000 soldiers a year for personality disorder, but a policy change in 2008 cut that number by 75% in 2009. Meanwhile, PTSD diagnoses doubled from 2006 to 2008. Today, more... Read More
© Copyright 2010 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Lakewood Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
August 12th, 2010 |
A GoodTherapy.org News Summary
A new study conducted by the University of British Columbia looks at the characteristics and behavioral patterns of female perpetrators of domestic violence. Most studies of people who become abusive have looked predominantly, if not exclusively, at males. But a substantial number of women are harmful to those around them. According to the study, which was published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology, female batterers fall into the same three common categories that male batterers do. Some are violent and... Read More
© Copyright 2010 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Tigard Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
August 10th, 2010 |
A GoodTherapy.org News Summary
Children in the foster care system are at risk for a number of both short- and long-term mental health issues. This is even more the case for kids who were maltreated before entering foster care. Among these kids, depression is particularly prominent, and untreated through therapy and other intervention, it can lead to a risk of suicidal behavior. Post traumatic stress disorder is also quite common. Other mental health risks for children in foster care include dissociation, ADHD, conduct disorders, and social problems. Medicaid claims indicate that up to 57 percent... Read More
© Copyright 2010 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Roswell Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
August 5th, 2010 |
Just as the experience of a traumatic event impacts and alters the relationship you have with yourself, such an experience also impacts your relationships with others.
The manner in which family and friends respond to the crisis you endured is often influenced by the type of traumatic event experienced. For example, when there is abuse by someone within your relational network, the response of others can often be disbelief, accusations of lying or even disownment.
Tragically, these reactions can often feel as – if not more – traumatic than the initial event and often occur when you,... Read More
August 4th, 2010 |
For many people participating in psychotherapy, supplemental activities outside of the counseling itself can be beneficial to their growth and healing. Equine assisted psychotherapy is one such supplement. In Gig Harbor, Washington, a program is helping people overcome emotional trauma by working with horses in addition to their regular therapy. Because horses are natural prey animals, they are always on guard and they read body language very well. This makes the animals easy for trauma victims... Read More
© Copyright 2010 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Encino Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
