Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

EMDR therapy is an evidenced based practice that supports client who have experienced difficult past events or have experienced traumatic experiences. If you struggle with thinking about past events when you don’t want to, nightmares, or often have triggers in your daily life that remind you of that event, then EMDR could help you work through your past to shift your thinking and reduce the emotional disturbance around these event(s).

Post-traumatic stress disorder is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event. Relief of symptoms by using CBT, EMDR, RRT, Mindfulness exercises to name a few. https://headway.co/providers/renee-tong?utm_source=pem&utm_medium=direct_link&utm_campaign=33145

I am trained in brainspotting, which is a technique that can provide healing beyond what talk therapy can provide alone.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that's triggered by a terrifying event — either experiencing it or witnessing it. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event.

Trauma is an insidious and silent epidemic that gives rise to many health problems (not just mental health issues!) over the lifespan. I believe the most important thing in trauma therapy is helping the client to feel safe within themselves, to integrate the different parts of themselves that may be acting out and causing distress, and giving them skills to help manage the symptoms they experience.

Many people overestimate the experiences that cause PTSD, and invalidate their experiences, saying things like, “I haven’t been through any big traumas, I can’t have PTSD.” And yet so many of my clients that struggle with perfectionism, inadequacy, low self esteem, and shame have many PTSD symptoms that they brush aside. Identifying and resolving past trauma, can greatly reduce our suffering.

I am trained in the clinical assessment & gold standard treatments for PTSD: Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) & Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PE). These treatments are highly effective & take an average of only 12 weekly sessions for you to effectively recover from trauma-related stress. My approach to treating trauma is unique as I combine my expertise as a sleep specialist to help you overcome the chronic insomnia & trauma-related nightmares that are so common in PTSD all at the same time.

I am a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional. I believe that negative experiences in life can alter how our brain processes things. I do have the skills and the expertise to help you to heal from trauma so that you can be the person that you want to be.

You don't have to have gone to war to suffer from PTSD. Being exposed to harmful messaging, blame, emotional instability, neglect, or abuse can all lead to the development of PTSD. I have focused the last 6 years on guiding clients to find relief through the use of EMDR, with a particular focus on how to address complex issues of dissociation, substance abuse, self-sabotaging behavior, and psychological defenses.

Trauma and PTSD can feel hopeless, inescapable, overwhelming and isolating. It affects you in profound ways, from your relationships, from how to respond, to feeling anxious, unsafe and often times sacred. Free yourself from the grip of trauma. Learn how trauma affects you on multiple levels and how to work with each level. Feel empowered and renewed, as you recreate your story and thrive.

PTSD is what occurs when you have an experience that overwhelms your system, leaving you unable to complete the stress response that is needed to move it through and out of your body. This results in the debilitating symptoms of hypervigilance, flashbacks and sleep disturbances. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an evidence-based practice that allows you to process your feelings. I provide a safe space to work at your pace.

Due to my time in the corrections system, most of my clients were diagnosed with PTSD due to the violence in the prison systems and also due to childhood abuse and assault. I see self-harm and substance abuse as maladaptive coping skills for PTSD. I am a trauma-informed therapist and can integrate trauma work into sessions if needed. I'm not going to let anyone, including you, treat you like a victim. You're tough as hell! I want you to find your power/control and kick butt!

As a certified clinical trauma professional level one and two, it is clear that so many more of us experience trauma in our lives than one would imagine. I frequently work with individuals who experience many types of trauma to develop a willingness to accept traumatic thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations so that they can move forward and live a values-guided life.

I am trained in EMDR, have completed trainings via tri-state trauma network, and am well read on long term effects of trauma.

Trauma can make you want to avoid, or make you numb to the world. It effects relationships, performance at work, and can make us doubt who we are and what our purpose is. Treatment for trauma can look a lot of different ways. Sometimes the focus is on the here and now- learning how to manage symptoms that are tripping you up today. Sometimes the focus is on the beliefs that came out of the trauma, and how your current life is somehow continuing to foster them. Giving you control is the goal.

When I became a therapist I quickly realized that 99% of the people I was working with had trauma, whether big or small. This jump-started me on a journey of continuing my education and developing a niche of working with trauma (cause its really all trauma). I am now trained in EMDR and other supportive somatic interventions to better support working with individuals with various forms of trauma symptoms/diagnoses.

I have spent most of my career working with victims of trauma. Because of this, I stayed up to date on training and continuing education regarding trauma symptoms and PTSD across the lifespan. I am able to assess, diagnose, and treat presenting symptoms related to PTSD and utilize various evidence-based treatment modalities such as TF-CBT, CPT, and EMDR to treat PTSD and the symptoms affecting functioning. I am certified in TF-CBT and EMDR and can treat young children, adolescents, and adults.

I offer Accelerated Resolution Therapy, a highly effective treatment with focused eye movements and voluntary image replacement and does NOT require sharing traumatic details with me. It provides quick relief to process problem images and difficult sensations and emotions which are features of trauma. Please see my website for more information.