Use Our Resources for Overcoming Trauma and PTSD in Daily Life
Some who develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) describe living with trauma as going through life in a suit of armor. The traumatic event is heavy and restricts movement in all directions – they can barely move forward, but going backward is out of the question. The armor may protect them against further pain, which initially might feel comforting.
But it also creates a barrier against the world, shielding the person from fully experiencing life’s joys and forming natural connections with others. It’s a layer of security but keeps them isolated. The person can only discard the armor after mastering some coping skills for trauma. But how?
Discover the details of the key causes of trauma and learn more about how to use our coping skills for trauma worksheets to help overcome those overwhelming feelings
Purpose Healing Center is a Joint Commission-accredited addiction and mental health treatment center. We provide professional help to any client who needs to learn these ways to cope with trauma. Each mental health professional at our facility understands the impact of trauma well. We can help trauma survivors develop the effective coping skills necessary to pick up the pieces after traumatic events.
If trauma or PTSD has become a weight dragging on daily life for yourself or a loved one, our programs at Purpose offer proven support options.
Traumatic Events Can Trigger PTSD for Some People
Trauma disorders come not from any single event; what traumatizes one person may not impact others the same. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs National Center for PTSD explains that everyone has upsetting events in life that cause them to feel edgy or have difficulty falling asleep.
Some of the traumatic events that lead to issues with trauma include:
- Natural disasters: Surviving or witnessing a hurricane, floods, or earthquakes.
- Human-caused disasters: Car accidents, assaults, violence, severe childhood neglect.
Most people process those negative reactions and start feeling well again after a few months. But living with those traumatic events becomes problematic for others. In some cases, the stressful event hurts a person’s career, education, or relationships.
The emotional distress and physical symptoms become almost impossible to manage for some trauma survivors. That’s when it’s time to get professional help from a licensed and accredited mental health treatment program like those we offer at Purpose Healing Center.
Purpose Client ‘Dakota’ Was Unable to Process His Triggers Until He Got Help
‘Dakota’ was a young man who loved adventure, so the cross-country train trip with some friends seemed like a great opportunity to see something new. The trip started with a lot of laughter and some stunning views of the countryside but took a tragic turn one sunny afternoon. The train derailed on a sharp curve, sending its passenger cars tumbling off the tracks. Dakota and his friends were lucky to have only minor injuries.
However, the sight of the crumpled metal wreckage and the screams coming from injured people stayed with Dakota and left him deeply traumatized. He had flashbacks and nightmares about the event. The train company paid for the physical harm to its passengers but didn’t provide crisis counseling to help with stress reactions.
Dakota’s friends moved on from the memories of the train wreck within several months of the incident. They lived their lives without constantly feeling the emotions of the close call. However, the accident was a constant struggle for Dakota, who had ongoing issues with falling and staying asleep. His buddies joked with him about it, making it even worse – telling him to “move on” was more harmful than helpful.
Getting an Effective Support System in Place
Dakota’s family members grew increasingly concerned for his well-being after almost a year of the symptoms. The months of sleepless nights had impacted his brain, and he was having trouble maintaining his job. It was time to seek professional care.
At Purpose Healing Center’s trauma treatment program, Dakota learned how the symptoms were common responses that were protecting him because he did not have healthy coping mechanisms. His trauma counselor taught him grounding techniques to get the symptoms under control and helped dull the edge of the trauma responses.
Now, Dakota has mastered some healthy ways to deal with the common reactions to trauma. He has started spending time again with his loved ones and friends. With his new coping tools, he can sleep again at night.
The Long-Term Effects of a Traumatic Event
While the impact of traumatic events subsides after a few weeks or months for most, they can be very disruptive for others. Here are some of the most frequent effects of unresolved trauma:
- Chronic anxiety and panic
- Depression or persistent sadness
- Developing PTSD
- Numbed emotions
- A sense of fear that you can’t explain
- Hypervigilance or hyperawareness
- Physical health issues (high blood pressure, chronic headaches)
- Substance abuse (drugs or alcohol to numb the brain)
- Sleep disorders (sleep loss, nightmares, awakening at night)
- Memory or focus issues
- Disconnected from danger and engaging in risky behaviors
- Becoming withdrawn from loved ones
Awareness of these symptoms and their connection to trauma can help you realize that it’s time to create a strategy to manage the stress. It’s time for additional support.
Learning Healthy Coping Strategies After Traumatic Stress
Purpose Healing Center therapists can help you cope with the symptoms of trauma and PTSD as well as Complex PTSD (PTSD from both childhood events and experiences in adulthood). We customize programs for each person who entrusts us with their therapy needs, but the following reflect some general therapies that work for most clients:
Trauma Therapy With a Licensed Counselor
This treatment allows therapists to talk about the traumatic event in a supportive space. The therapist prompts the client throughout the sessions, guiding them to uncover more about the nature of the trauma. The client learns the root causes of the anxiety and begins to distance themselves from it.
Cognitive-Behavioral Techniques
Counselors can help you identify and upgrade your harmful and negative thought patterns to positive ones. Once you learn this technique, you can apply it to every area of your life. It helps master emotional regulation.
Self-care and Relaxation Techniques
You will learn new ways of coping with trauma triggers better. For instance, taking a brisk, short walk when it creeps up on you may help. Others find deep breathing helpful – they breathe in they learn to exhale the anxiety in the present moment. Some focus on getting enough sleep during recovery from trauma.
There’s no right or wrong way to care for your needs. Instead, it’s a matter of finding what’s most effective for each client.
Sarah Came to Purpose and Reclaimed Her Peace of Mind
Sarah’s ex-husband left her and the children one day, cleaning out the bank account, and walking out the door without a backward glance. Sarah had a good job as a bank teller, with excellent insurance but low pay.
Over the next few months, Sarah was unable to pay the mortgage on the family home or make her car payment while also feeding her children and paying for the utilities.
She tried to find her soon-to-be ex-husband through the child support system; the kids needed his help desperately. The courts could not locate him and believed he’d moved out-of-state. Sarah lost the family home several months later.
On top of moving to a tiny apartment, Sarah’s youngest daughter developed severe asthma that led to very high hospital bills.
One afternoon, Sarah decided to walk across the street from the bank to a local lunch spot. A careless driver careened into the crosswalk and struck her as she crossed the road. While her injuries were minor, Sarah could not escape the compounding of all these stressful events.
Coping Skills for Overwhelming Moments
All of these things became too much for Sarah to handle; she often had mood swings, snapped at the children or her co-workers, and had nightmares about her ex leaving them in such dire straits. Sarah needed help.
Fortunately, Sarah’s excellent insurance covered outpatient therapy at Purpose. Sarah loved to talk with her therapist to let out her feelings. She learned to cope with the trauma in her own way and even used the techniques to be more patient with the kids.
After leaving Purpose, Sarah switched jobs, becoming a customer services director for a prestigious bank. She’s back on her feet – physically and emotionally – now that she has coping methods to deal with stress.
Do You Have Unresolved Trauma? Free PDF Guide to Trauma Symptoms
How does trauma affect your well-being? If you are not functioning as well as you once did, especially after a traumatic event, your stress reactions might be to blame.
Our free PDF is not a diagnostic tool and does not replace the need for a professional counselor who can teach you lifelong coping strategies. Rather, it’s a way for you to reflect on the symptoms and feelings you are experiencing so you can decide if you should reach out for professional support.
Some Key Sections of the PDF Guide to Trauma
The guide gives you a definition of “trauma” to help you gain insight into the stress you might carry after a traumatic event. Then, we have a couple of trauma worksheets:
Our First Worksheet: Do You Have the Signs of Unresolved Trauma?
The first worksheet explores 12 of the top feelings or thoughts that often indicate PTSD. Read each statement and check any box that applies to your memories or feelings of a traumatic event. The scoring system is at the bottom of the sheet.
Be sure to share this information with a counselor or therapist. This information will help them design the proper coping strategies to restore you to better health.
It’s important that you don’t continue to ignore these unresolved trauma symptoms. They can worsen over time and lead to full-blown PTSD, complete with nightmares, abuse of drugs, haunting memories, and flashbacks.
They can throttle up from a problem to a crisis.
Our Second Trauma Coping Skills Worksheet: What’s Your Self-Care Plan?
The second worksheet gives you a bit of space to jot down how you might best take care of yourself.
Step one of the worksheet asks you to reflect on and jot down which area of your life needs the most support – emotional, social, or physical wellness.
Once you identify the area that needs your focus, you move on to planning activities to help support your identified needs. We give a few ideas of activities that can address the specific needs. But, of course, these are just ideas – you can plan on doing whatever methods will help you develop stronger coping mechanisms.
Moving on After Trauma With Help from Purpose Healing Center
Do you need to talk with a therapist about how to cope with your feelings after a traumatic event? If you answer yes, then Purpose Healing Center is here for you. Our team will help you talk through your concerns and devise coping tools that can calm your PTSD.
We work with most major insurances as an in-network rehab, allowing you to breathe easy and focus on resolving the trauma. We’ll gladly call your insurer on your behalf to get your care plan approved.
Give us a confidential call today – it’s time to start feeling better again, starting now.
480-579-3319