PTSD Treatment in Scottsdale, Arizona

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a disorder that develops in people who have experienced a shocking, dangerous, or scary event.

Many people who come to us have PTSD or complex PTSD (CPTSD) and have already tried weekly therapy. When once-a-week sessions aren’t enough but hospitalization isn’t needed, a trauma-focused intensive outpatient program (IOP) is the next step. Our Scottsdale program serves the Phoenix area and all of Arizona.

While it’s expected to feel scared after a traumatic experience, people with PTSD experience ongoing symptoms that interfere with their daily lives and affect their relationships. When this happens, it’s important to seek PTSD treatment in Scottsdale with a reputable center like Healing Foundations Center.


PTSD Treatment in Scottsdale

Understanding PTSD

Traumatic events, such as natural disasters, rape, assault, abuse, and combat exposure, trigger the “fight-or-flight” response in people, which is natural. This is an evolutionary development meant to keep people safe from harm, and most people experience a level of fear and hypervigilance following trauma.

For people with PTSD, however, the symptoms don’t resolve after the initial trauma. They may continue to feel stressed or scared, even if they’re no longer in a dangerous or threatening situation.


Signs and Symptoms of PTSD

For many, the symptoms of PTSD develop within three months of the inciting event, but they can begin years afterward. For a PTSD diagnosis, the symptoms must last longer than a month and be severe enough to impact the person’s professional or personal life.

The diagnostic criterion for PTSD is specific and must include:

  • One or more re-experiencing symptoms
  • One or more avoidance symptoms
  • Two or more arousal or reactivity symptoms
  • Two or more cognition and mood symptoms

Re-experiencing symptoms may include:

  • Flashbacks
  • Nightmares
  • Frightening thoughts
Avoidance symptoms may include:

  • Avoiding the places, events, or associations that remind them of the trauma
  • Avoiding thoughts or feeling associated with the event
Arousal and reactivity symptoms include:

  • Feeling tense
  • Difficulty sleeping
  • Angry outbursts
  • Being easily startled
Cognition and mood symptoms may include:

  • Difficulty remembering the details of the trauma
  • Negative thoughts
  • Distorted feelings of blame or guilt
  • Loss of interest in activities they previously enjoyed

The symptoms may differ in children. Anyone can develop PTSD at any age, and according to the National Center for PTSD, 7 or 8 out of every 100 people will experience PTSD at some point in their lives.[1]

Left untreated, PTSD can disrupt a person’s entire life, from relationships to jobs to health to hobbies and everyday activities. PTSD can also increase the likelihood of developing other mental health problems, such as substance abuse, eating disorders, depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation or actions.
Not everyone will experience PTSD from trauma. Certain risk factors make PTSD more likely, while certain resilient factors may reduce the risk of developing PTSD. The risk factors include:

  • Seeing people hurt or dead bodies
  • Childhood trauma
  • Living through traumatic events
  • Repeated trauma
  • Having little to no support after the traumatic event
  • Dealing with added stress after a traumatic event, such as pain or injury
  • A history of mental illness or substance abuse

Resilience factors for PTSD may include:

  • Attending a support group
  • Accepting one’s actions in the face of the traumatic event
  • Developing a positive coping strategy
  • Seeking support from friends and family
Healing Foundations PTSD Treatment Center in Scottsdale, AZ

PTSD Treatment Options

Everyone experiences PTSD differently, so the treatment options need to be individualized. The primary PTSD treatment options are psychotherapy, also known as “talk therapy,” and medication, or a combination of both.

Psychotherapy usually involves a mental health professional and may be individual- or group-oriented, taking place over several weeks. Some psychotherapies focus on PTSD directly, while others focus on problems with relationships, family, or work. With either, the goals center around building skills to handle PTSD triggers and manage symptoms.

PTSD psychotherapy may include:

  • Somatic Experiencing: This type of therapy works on the belief that trauma gets trapped in the body, leading to PTSD symptoms.
  • EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing): This psychotherapy treatment was designed to alleviate the stress and distress associated with traumatic memories.
  • Cognitive restructuring: This type of therapy addresses the memories of the traumatic event and the emotions associated with it, such as guilt, blame, anger, and shame.

Therapy can help people struggling with PTSD learn to cope with the events that trigger them, learn about trauma and its impact, and manage their anger and other emotions. Therapy also helps people make positive lifestyle changes to improve diet, sleep habits, and activity.


Healing Foundations PTSD Treatment Facilities in Scottsdale, AZ

PTSD Treatment in Scottsdale

At Healing Foundations Center, we specialize in treating trauma-related disorders, including PTSD. We address different types of traumas that arise from experiences and events like abuse, neglect or abandonment, intimate partner violence, disasters, accidents, medical illnesses, and chronic distress.

We offer both individual therapy and intensive outpatient programming with small group sessions and weekly individual sessions, depending on the needs of the individual. We use different types of modalities, including:


For dissociative experiences, we offer structural dissociation or “parts work.” Stabilizing ones’ dissociative symptoms is foundational in the treatment of PTSD because it brings awareness and integration back to the mind and body and diminishes the person’s need to detach from their experiences.

Get PTSD Treatment in Scottsdale at Healing Foundations Center

If you or a loved one are struggling with PTSD, help is available. Contact us today to learn more about our PTSD treatment programs.


Sources:

[1] https://www.ptsd.va.gov/understand/common/common_adults.asp

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