PTSD TREATMENT IN SCOTTSDALE

PTSD treatment has been a large part of my practice in Scottsdale AZ since 2001. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder – PTSD develops when someone is exposed to any form of a traumatic experience; and then experiences lingering symptoms similar to anxiety, for extended periods of time. PTSD in not limited to soldiers or first-responders. Being raised in a dysfunctional family or by abusive drug-abusing or alcoholic parents, or troubled siblings can cause PTSD at any point in time. An estimated 11 million people in the US suffer with PTSD. The symptoms are typically nightmares, unavoidable recurrent memories, flashbacks, psychological distress, and physiological reactions and disturbances from the events.

Often someone with PTSD will do anything to avoid the symptoms caused by the traumatic event. This avoidance often disables them from their normal lifestyle and daily functions. Ruminating over the traumatic event will have a similar deleterious effect on their mind, just as if they were going through the event again. If these symptoms continue for over 30 days, it may be a signal to seek out PTSD treatment. PTSD is not an anxiety disorder per se, even though the symptoms are similar; although with treatment, the symptoms can go into remission for years or decades. PTSD is not an anxiety disorder though shares a close relationship, and nearly 30% of individuals with PTSD have generalized anxiety disorder.

SSRI antidepressant and anti-anxiety medications can be used to alleviate the symptoms, and should be used in conjunction with counseling, cognitive-exposure therapy, EMDR, or Brain Spotting therapies.

PTSD Treatment – EMDR – Adjunct Therapy

The use of both medication and EMDR or eye movement desensitization and reprocessing has been about 95% successful for treating post traumatic stress disorder. EMDR is a form of cognitive processing therapy. I typically handle the medication management while one of my colleagues conducts the EMDR. The chemistry behind PTSD may contribute to the inability to relinquish traumatic memories that are responsible for the anxiety. Research into the levels of dynorphins and PTSD may lead to more effective medications for treating PTSD and other anxiety disorders as well as OCD. EMDR trains your brain to reprocess the traumatic event.

Eye Movement – Our Thoughts & Emotions

EMDR is similar to other therapies such as brainspotting and hypnosis, both of which are gaining acceptance in mainstream psychiatry and psychology for treating PTSD. The American Psychiatric Association – APA has noted that EMDR is effective for treating symptoms of acute and chronic PTSD.

Consider for a moment, what do your eyes do when you are concentrating, how about when you are angry, happy, or dreaming? When we are dreaming, we are in a REM (Rapid eye movement) state of mind. How about when someone is fibbing to you, have you noticed their eye movement? When someone with psychosis is responding to internal stimuli, their eyes are looking upward and fluttering. Controlling our eye movement can also help control our thoughts, especially the traumatic thoughts! EMDR and Brainspotting both focus on eye movement. Associating the movement with the unpleasant thoughts and then replacing them with pleasant thoughts and opposite eye movement.

The way your mind works relies on the structure of your brain. That structure involves networks of communicating brain cells across many different areas. That’s especially the case with sections that involve your memories and senses. That networking makes it faster and easier for those areas to work together. That’s why your senses — sights, sounds, smells, tastes and feels — can bring back strong memories. Newer experiences can link up to earlier trauma experiences and reinforce a negative experience over and over again. That disrupts the links between your senses and memories. It also acts as an injury to your mind. And just like your body is sensitive to pain from an injury, your mind has a higher sensitivity to things you saw, heard, smelled or felt during a trauma-related event.

Changes in Brain Function After EMDR

There have been observable changes in brain scans of patients before and after several sessions of EMDR. Some even claim that while the success rates for PTSD combined with cognitive behavioral therapy may be 80%; EMDR can accomplish the same success rates in half the time as other treatments. More than 20,000 practitioners have been trained to use EMDR since psychologist Francine Shapiro developed the technique in 1989. Interestingly, while walking through the woods one day, Shapiro happened to notice that her own negative emotions lessened as her eyes darted from side to side. After much deliberation she began to use this in her practice and found the same positive effect in her patients.

EMDR does not rely on talk therapy but rather uses a patient’s own rapid-rhythmic eye movements. These eye movements dampen the power of emotionally charged memories of past traumatic events. They will weaken the effect of the negative emotions.

PTSD Therapy Process

During an EMDR treatment, sessions which can last up to 90 minutes. Your therapist will move his or her fingers back and forth in front of your face and ask you to follow these hand motions with your eyes. At the same time, the therapist will have you recall a disturbing event. This will include the emotions and body sensations that go along with it. Gradually the therapist will guide you to shift your thoughts to more pleasant ones. Some therapists use alternatives to finger movements, such as hand or toe tapping or musical tones. Before and after each EMDR treatment, your therapist will ask you to rate your level of distress. The hope is that your disturbing memories will become less disabling. If you are seeking treatment for PTSD in Scottsdale, please contact my office. Read more about PTSD treatment.

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