Despite the fact that our society has been hesitant to discuss sexual assault, combat trauma, and other types of traumatic events, it is estimated that nearly three-quarters of individuals in the United States will experience a trauma during their lifetime. A trauma can include any event with real or threatened death or harm to an individual or someone they care about. While some people will naturally recover from a trauma, some will struggle with stress, anxiety, depression, fear, or isolation for years. Whether or not you develop PTSD following a trauma, CBT can be an effective way to process the experience and learn how to cope with, and recover from, a traumatic event.
ACUTE STRESS
The first month following a trauma can be stressful, confusing, and painful as you work to process the event and what it might mean for your life. At this point, therapy is usually supportive and flexible in the effort to help you process what has occurred and reintegrate back into your life. This period can be extremely challenging.
POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (PTSD)
You may have heard of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which describes a series of symptoms that can occur following a trauma but do not appear to be getting better with time. Individuals with PTSD typically report isolation from others, avoidance of things they used to enjoy, feelings of vigilance, poor sleep, nightmares, emotional attachment, and trying not to think about anything related to what happened. There are several evidence-based treatments for PTSD, including prolonged exposure (PE) and cognitive processing therapy (CPT), that have been shown to improve symptoms of PTSD and are typically completed in 12-15 sessions.