Complex Trauma and PTSD Treatment in New York

What is Trauma?

Trauma is a distressing event or repeated events that overwhelm your emotional, physical, and mental health and ability to cope. Trauma may be acute, meaning a single event, such as the sudden death of a loved one or a serious accident. Trauma can also be chronic, meaning there are repeated experiences of the traumatic event. Not all people who experience trauma will develop PTSD, however, traumatic experiences can still present challenges to your day to day.

What are symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?

• Intrusive, recurrent memories of the traumatic event or events

• Recurring dreams that are distressing (content that is related to the trauma experience)

• Experiencing flashbacks taking you back to that traumatic event

• Intense distress when exposed to reminders of the event; these may be external in your environment or internal

• Physical reactions to environmental triggers or internal reminders/memories

• Avoidance or attempted avoidance of remembering distressing memories or thoughts associated with the trauma

• Avoidance or attempted avoidance of environmental reminders, such as places where trauma occurred, people involved in traumatic events, activities associated with the trauma, or talking about the event

• Inability to remember certain important aspects of the trauma

• Persistent and extreme cognitive beliefs about yourself, the world, or others as well as the cause of the traumatic event like self-blame or blame of others

• A persistent negative emotional state like fear and anxiety, anger, guilt, shame or horror and difficulty feeling more positive emotions

• Lack of interest in activities you typically love to engage in

• Feeling more isolated from others

• Increased arousal and reactivity, such as irritable behavior, reckless behavior, hypervigilance, difficulty concentrating, difficulty getting to sleep or staying asleep, and more extreme startle responses

Integrative, Evidence-Based Third Wave CBT Treatment for PTSD

Every person’s story and experience are unique. For this reason, our New York private practice utilizes an integrative approach of evidence-based modalities to address symptoms of trauma and PTSD. It is important that you feel comfortable with the therapeutic treatment plan so we create these plans and goals for treatment together.

Using Trauma-Informed Language During PTSD Treatment

New York Women’s CBT uses trauma-informed language in our practice. For instance, instead of using “irrational thoughts”, we use “unhelpful thought pattern” or “stuck point”. Oftentimes, with individuals experiencing things like medical trauma, their unhelpful thoughts are not irrational. They are just not helpful to ruminate on in the current moment.

Trauma-Informed Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, is an evidence-based therapy that helps the individual recognize unhelpful thought patterns and create more helpful cognitive reframes. This change in cognition creates positive emotional and behavioral changes. Using CBT tools, you will learn to recognize cognitive distortions, create new neural pathways in the brain and turn down the volume on unpleasant emotions.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy, or DBT, techniques help us create more flexible thought patterns. Dialectical thoughts allow us to hold both our emotional mind and our rational mind together, creating our wise mind. We have the foundational understanding in DBT that opposing thoughts can co-exist at once.

Somatic, Grounding and Mindfulness Skills

Because trauma overwhelms the mind and body, it is crucial to provide skills and techniques to activate the parasympathetic nervous system. We will create a unique plan for you to engage in down-regulation techniques, healthy distraction techniques, meditative skills, and deep breathing exercises.

Types of Trauma Addressed with Integrative PTSD Treatment in New York:

Acute Trauma

Acute trauma usually involves a single traumatic event. This could look like birth trauma during labor and delivery, surgery, an injury, or an accident. Cognitive Processing Therapy is an excellent tool to help identify stuck points stemming from the traumatic event and create new cognitive thought patterns.

Chronic Trauma

Chronic trauma is an event that happens repeatedly. This could look like repeated cycles of abuse or chronic illness and chronic pain. With complex chronic health issues, you are experiencing chronic trauma by enduring ongoing invasive treatments, exams, and surgeries. Chronic trauma can be addressed with trauma-informed CBT by helping examine your feelings surrounding the repeated trauma, replace stuck unhelpful thought patterns, and engage in more helpful behaviors.

Complex Trauma

Complex trauma involves multiple traumatic events over a lifetime. For instance, you may have experienced childhood trauma and as an adult experienced repeated medical trauma due to a complex chronic health issue. Therapeutic interventions like trauma-informed CBT can help address stuck points of complex trauma, be present in the here and now and give practical tools to move forward.

Medical Trauma

Medical trauma involves severe illness or injury, invasive medical treatments, invasive surgical procedures, and intense experiences of physical pain. Medical trauma can stem from chronic illness or chronic pain or an injury or illness. Medical trauma may include dismissal, minimizing, and gaslighting from medical professionals. It is important to create a team of providers that respect your experience, believe in your pain, and are willing to collaborate to provide the best care.

Birth Trauma

Birth trauma involves a life-threatening injury or death during the labor and birthing process. This can include complications, emergency deliveries, traumatic vaginal birth or NICU admissions. Trauma-informed CBT can be a powerful way to reframe your thoughts and manage your trauma symptoms.

Sexual Abuse and Sexual Assault

Sexual abuse or assault involves the violation of your body, boundaries, and autonomy. With CBT treatment, we can identify stuck points and rigid thought patterns about personal safety, power, control, trust, and intimacy.

Childhood Abuse and Trauma

Childhood abuse and trauma may include physical, sexual, verbal or emotional abuse as well as neglect. Neglect can be physical neglect of your basic needs or emotional neglect failing to support your basic emotional needs. These can create rigid or extreme thought patterns involving your feelings of power, control, or safety.

Religious Trauma

Religious trauma may impact your beliefs about yourself. Purity culture, shame surrounding sexuality, and spiritual abuse can affect the way you see yourself or impact your ability to practice self-compassion. Together, we can identify what your personal values system is now and how spirituality can fit into your life moving forward.

Traumatic Grief

Grief and loss that is shocking, unexpected, or devastating can leave you feeling so alone and stuck. Processing grief in a safe space can help you feel more grounded, make meaning of your pain and begin to move forward in your grieving process.