Combat Trauma

• Nightmares
• Flashbacks
• Intrusive memories
• Difficulty sleeping
• Significant irritability
• Emotional detachment
• Avoiding large crowds
• Avoiding reminders
• Feeling distant from others
• Easily startled
• Angry
• Feeling on edge

Often times, people feel like therapy won’t help them because it can’t take the memory away. And it is true that therapy cannot take memories away. However, it is possible to learn how to be in control of those memories and take away their power over you. When memories are difficult to think about, we tuck them deep in our minds and ignore them so they go away. But they don’t go away. Instead, they come up in other ways. It is almost like an app that is at work in the background of your phone. While you are not currently attending to it, it is wearing down your charge and preventing everything else from working efficiently. In therapy, you will learn how to turn that app off when it is not in use and discern appropriate times to open it up and how to deal with it effectively when you do.

We are proficient in evidence-based trauma therapies, such as Prolonged Exposure and Cognitive Processing Therapy, that have been specifically researched and found effective for treatment of combat trauma. We will work with you to identify the best course of treatment based on your unique background.

Therapy will likely involve recounting the trauma and discussing how it impacted you and is playing out in your life now. While this may sound intimidating, we are very careful to move at a pace that is appropriate for you. If you will be discussing your trauma in therapy, we will ensure that you are ready to do so and have the necessary skills in place first.