PTSD Counselling

Overcome trauma with personalised PTSD counselling services

What is PTSD Counselling?

Diana Parkinson can help you to talk openly about your feelings and process negative thoughts. Working through any problems you might be struggling with together in a non-judgmental way.

What is anxiety counselling?

Post-traumatic stress disorder counselling is a form of therapy that helps individuals who have experienced trauma to manage their symptoms and improve their quality of life.

Why is PTSD Counselling important?

If left untreated PTSD may lead to suicide. PTSD is often the result of a near-death experience, or trauma which was so terrifying that the sufferer experiences reliving the traumatic event as though it is happening now, again and again and again. The symptoms of PTSD are hugely distressing and may involve every sense being affected, smell, taste, touch, sight, re-living their traumatic incident. The diagnosis of PTSD can help you to understand what is happening.

How can PTSD Counselling help?

PTSD treatment helps normalise the abnormal, allowing people with PTSD to express, in their own words, what they are feeling and thinking while being supported by their counsellor, never judged. The effects of PTSD gradually reduce as their sessions offer space and safety to explore feelings they have been unable to express all the while gaining positive feedback, acknowledgement and acceptance from the counsellor. It’s knowing that “It’s okay to feel this way”, “Your feelings and reactions were normal, given the abnormality of the situation you faced”. Often there’s enormous guilt associated with simply surviving, whilst others did not.

Who can benefit from PTSD Counselling?

Anyone who is stuck or trapped with re-experiencing panic attacks, drinking too much, self-harming and other destructive behaviour, always on guard for danger, trouble sleeping/nightmares, unable to concentrate, suicidal ideation. Therapies for PTSD aim to alleviate these symptoms.

PTSD Counselling Approaches

• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
• Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
• Desensitisation Therapy
  This treatment for PTSD is used when a phobia or anxiety disorder is maintained by classical conditioning. It shares the same elements of both cognitive-behavioural therapy and applied behaviour analysis.
• Psychotherapy
• Psychodynamic Therapy
• Group Therapy
• Hypnotherapy
  Trauma may cause someone to disconnect from their own internal sense of safety, in other words they neglect to pay attention to their own emotions and needs. Therefore the sooner their emotions are understood and managed the quicker their recovery. Hypnotherapy helps you cope with trauma,to normalise your emotions, learning to regain your sense of control so you can get on with living your best life. Hypnosis enables you to connect with your unconscious mind – the automatic part of your mind, and to regain control of your thoughts and emotions. Hypnosis is all about using positive suggestions, realistic suggestions, which enable you to create, and establish, positive thought processing. Your hypnotherapist helps you learn techniques to recognise and manage PTSD symptoms and triggers, thereby altering the way you react to them.

Finding the Right PTSD Counsellor

• Credentials and Qualifications
• Experience with PTSD
• Therapeutic Approach
• Personal Connection

What to Expect from PTSD Counselling

• Initial Assessment – This is very important as it enables the therapist to understand how the client is experiencing complex PTSD and to move forward to a plan of PTSD treatment options.
• Treatment Plan – Discussing with the client how treatment can help, establishing boundaries in which the client will feel safe to learn new and positive ways of coping with their symptoms.
• Duration of Treatment – Treatments for PTSD will vary depending on each individual. Treatment is working with the client until their symptoms are greatly reduced, or completely gone.
• Progress and Outcomes – The most important element in recovery from PTSD is being able to normalise the seemingly abnormal emotions experienced as a result of PTSD.

Overcoming PTSD with Counselling

• Coping with Triggers and Flashbacks – By talking, acknowledging and normalising the PTSD and trauma responses we gradually let go of those responses. It’s the acceptance of “My reactions are normal, given the abnormality of the experience.” “Of course I felt panicked/scared/terrified.” The counsellor is there to reassure, witness and validate your experiences, helping you to have the confidence to trust in yourself and move away from your symptoms. 
• Managing Anxiety and Depression – Anxiety & Depression should start to ease as your counselling progresses.
• Improving Relationships – Relationships are greatly impacted by PTSD, so as your counselling progresses so too will your relationships.
• Regaining a Sense of Control – All too often we feel guilty or stupid and beat ourselves up for what are in reality normal feelings and reactions. 

Frequently asked anxiety counselling questions

Q. What is PTSD counselling?

A. It’s therapy for those who have experienced trauma.

Q. What happens in PTSD counselling?

A. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Trauma Counselling help you to explore and understand your emotional and physical responses to an event. Seeking help with PTSD can provide you with a safe place to explore and understand what you experienced and why and how you coped with your trauma, all the many emotions the trauma may have aroused, such as anger, guilt, fear, the moving towards a place where the trauma moves away from being a present problem to a memory that gradually fades.

Q. How effective is PTSD counselling?

A. PTSD counselling is usually very effective.

Q. How do I know if I need PTSD counselling?

A. If you feel your life is being impacted by avoidance of certain situations and events that arouse heightened feelings of panic and fear then seek counselling for trauma. The counsellor will be able to assess whether you have experienced a serious trauma and advise you as to a course of action.

Q. What should I expect from a PTSD counsellor?

A. Really important you feel the therapist is providing you with a safe place to be and a safe space to explore your feelings and symptoms, with a view to improving your overall mental health.

Enquire about PTSD counselling today

I believe that everyone deserves a chance to heal and recover from trauma. With my expert PTSD counselling services, I can help you overcome the challenges of PTSD and regain control of your life. To learn more about my services and to schedule an appointment for PTSD treatment Hertfordshire, call or email. Take the first step towards healing and hope today.