If you’ve been exploring options to help you process your trauma and feel that traditional talk therapy isn’t quite hitting the mark, Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) could offer a new pathway. KAP combines therapeutic support with the effects of ketamine to help access emotions, memories, and perspectives that might otherwise feel out of reach. While this innovative approach has shown promise for those with treatment-resistant depression, PTSD, and complex trauma, it’s essential to understand how KAP works—and whether it aligns with your healing goals.
Curious to learn more? Click here to read our blog on what makes KAP unique, its potential benefits, and how to decide if it’s right for your trauma recovery journey.
Curious about Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) and how it might support your mental health journey? Our FAQ dives into the essential details—from what to expect in a session and who may benefit most, to safety considerations and how KAP works alongside traditional therapies. Explore answers to common questions and see if KAP could be the next step in your path to healing.
Struggling with the lasting effects of childhood trauma can feel overwhelming, especially when traditional therapy doesn’t seem to go deep enough. Trauma intensives offer a powerful alternative, providing an immersive healing experience that helps uncover and resolve even the most deeply buried wounds. In this blog, we explore why trauma intensives are ideal for healing childhood trauma and how this focused approach can accelerate your path to recovery.
Ready to learn more about how trauma intensives can help you heal and reclaim your life? Click here to read the full blog!
Healing from trauma is a deeply personal journey, especially for those in the LGBTQ+ community. As a lesbian, you may face unique challenges and experiences that can affect your healing process. In our latest blog, we explore how Trauma Intensive Therapy can create safe, affirming spaces that honor your identity and foster genuine healing.
Discover the importance of finding a therapeutic environment where you can be your authentic self and how specialized approaches can empower your recovery journey. Ready to take the next step? Click here to learn more about creating a safe space for your healing!
Childhood trauma can leave lasting emotional and physical imprints, often stored deep within the body, even when the mind has forgotten the details. In this blog, we explore how somatic therapy helps release trauma held in the body by tuning into physical sensations and using the body’s natural healing abilities. Learn how the connection between mind and body is key to unlocking trauma, fostering healing, and creating lasting change. Click to discover how somatic therapy can help you reconnect and reclaim peace from unresolved childhood wounds.
Today marks one month since the beginning of COVID-19 quarantine lockdown and it’s been longer for some. While some people are feeling gratitude and connection with their loved ones, many are feeling anxiety, depression, trauma symptoms, PTSD symptoms, isolation, grief and loneliness. So, what do we do with the pain? The anxiety? The trauma memories if we’re not supposed to avoid them?
Before searching for a trauma specialist in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, you may want to consider what, exactly you are looking for. Do you want to learn skills to help you tolerate the trauma memories? Or would you prefer to engage in deeper therapeutic work to get underneath the trauma so that it can heal at the core?
DBT has 4 tenants: distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness, emotion regulation and mindfulness. These skills are essential when doing trauma work for PTSD and for many other difficulties such as anxiety, depression, anger management, eating disorders, self-harm and addiction.
These skills are the building blocks that will allow you to be able to function and tolerate uncomfortable memories and emotions as you dive deeper into the healing work.
When looking for a trauma specialist in Bryn Mawr, you’ll also want to take the time to find out the model or theory that the therapist uses to help navigate your therapy. If you’re looking for a safe space to process and talk things out make sure you find a counselor who is great at talk therapy. If you are looking for evidence based interventions to help you DO something with the traumatic material, you may want to investigate something like EMDR. If you want to work more from the body or a creative place, you may want to look for an art therapist, a yoga therapist or an experiential or psycho-dramatic therapist. Ideally, you’ll find a therapist who is able to choose a therapeutic tool from a large tool belt with many choices.
Successful therapy is mostly about your commitment to healing. Your counselor may ask you to consider abstaining from addictive substances, behaviors or eating disordered behaviors, especially while you’re engaged in trauma work. If you’re doing drugs, engaging in self harm or throwing up your food while you’re trying to heal from PTSD, it can side-track the process. Instead of taking the time in between sessions to allow your psyche to continue to process and digest the trauma, engaging in behaviors can numb the emotions and make it less likely that you will process and be ready for your next session. When you commit to your own healing process, it means you are willing to look at all aspects of your life and work towards shifting the things that no longer serve you.
If you engage in therapy every week, it creates synergistic momentum as opposed to dropping in only when you’re experiencing anxiety or depressive symptoms. Committing to consistent therapy will help you heal faster and more completely. What is your level of commitment to healing from a traumatic past?
If you’re looking for a trauma specialist near Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania and need some helping finding the right person for you, please feel free to give us a call at 484-784-6244 for a free 15 minute initial consultation. We are happy to help you find the right trauma therapist for you.
According to the fifth edition of the Diagnostic Statistical Manuel of Mental Disorders (DSM V), Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD is a cluster of symptoms stemming from exposure to an event that was traumatic. In an attempt to heal, our bodies tend to re-play upsetting memories until the memory can be resolved. PTSD can seem difficult to manage. PTSD symptoms include things like intrusive thoughts and flashbacks. While the key to healing PTSD requires more involved therapeutic interventions such as EMDR, there are ways to manage some of the symptoms to make life in between therapy sessions a bit easier.
Jane, a 28 year old abuse survivor, was out to dinner with her friends. Suddenly, a waiter drops a tray of food and the sound carries through the restaurant. Jane hears the clattering of dishes and silverware hitting the floor. Her body believes she is back in the kitchen from her childhood when her parents fought and kitchenware broke. Jane crawled under the table, and ducked her head under her arms. When one of her friends reached out to her under the table, she flinched and apologized to her mother, reliving the childhood scene with her parents. This is one example of what a PTSD flashback can look like.
A flashback is when a person who has experienced a traumatic event, re-experiences that event in their body. Flashbacks can be so powerful, that the body believes that the event is happening to them in real time.
While there’s no way to be able to fully anticipate when a flashback might occur, there are some preventative measures you can take.
Scan your history with flashbacks and traumatic situations to see if you can find some themes. In the example with Jane, she experienced trauma in the kitchen with sounds of breaking plates and glass. You might notice that there are certain situations like restaurants, the beach, or the grocery store – that can be triggering. There might also be objects, sounds, smells or people that can set off a flashback.
Once you have a good idea of what your triggers are, see if there’s a way to prepare for them. In Jane’s example – she might decide to avoid restaurants or just loud, busy ones for a while until some of her symptoms decrease. She might sit with her back to the wall so that she can see what is happening around her in real time.
You can practice mindful awareness by checking in with yourself regularly to see what you are experiencing in your body. Notice if any anxiety or dissociative sensations are heightened. Some people describe their PTSD symptoms as sensations of feeling floaty, spacey, leaving their body, spacing-out, zoning out, feeling overwhelmed, high anxiety or easily startled. If you experience any of these sensations, pay attention on a regular basis. These sensations are warning signals that you could be easily triggered when you are in this state. If you catch the trigger early enough, you can avoid a flashback.
Once you notice that you are in a heightened state of anxiety or dissociation, use some tools to stay in the present; in your body.
(note: don’t use any techniques or tools you find triggering)
Drink some water slowly. Notice the cool sensation of the glass on your lips, the water in your mouth and the sensation as it goes down your throat.
Hold an ice cube. The cold can help you stay in your body by bringing your awareness to your hand.
Smell essential oils such as Bergamot (good for panic attacks) or Lavender (good for stress relief).
Light some incense – watch the smoke rise and coil, inhale the aroma.
Listen to music you find grounding. Pay attention to the words, tap your feet to the rhythm.
Play with Silly Putty or clay – notice the texture. Pay attention to the sensation of the clay in your hands.
Try to think of as many baseball teams as possible. Take turns with friends in thinking of the names of all the teams.
Count backwards or say the alphabet backwards
Try to think of other categories such as names of movies, bands, TV shows, etc.
Ask someone else about how they’re doing
Get involved in a project like building model airplanes or re-arranging your closet. Something tactile that also involves thought is helpful.
Read an engaging book – this uses your sight, engages the sense of touch and distracts your mind.
When you’re thinking about where to put your shoes, your brain is less likely to slip back into a trauma memory.
To learn more about PTSD treatment, contact me at TiffanySpilove@yahoo.com
