Welcome to my blog! I’ll be talking about trauma and many ways to approach treating it. I’ll spend the first few entries answering questions that I’ve received from people inquiring about how to handle various trauma-related situations.

The main reason for creating this blog is to spread the word to professionals and first responders who work with people who have experienced trauma that healing is possible.

A traumatic incident or series of traumas does not necessarily doom a person to a life of pain and suffering. Many people, including me, who have a history of trauma have been able to heal from the aftermath of that trauma. While we will never be the same as if we had not had these experiences, our lives can be rich and rewarding.

The Chinese character for the term “crisis” combines the notions of danger and opportunity.

When people have experienced trauma, they have been in a crisis and can be helped to find the opportunities for growth within the traumatic situations.

I hope that you will find this blog helpful and will leave comments as well as questions and concerns you would like to see addressed.

Hope Makes Healing Possible!

Patricia Sherman, Ph.D., LCSW

Most people find that some type of therapy is important in healing from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). There are a variety of therapeutic methods that have been found useful.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy can be particularly helpful in dealing with flashbacks; it teaches relaxation and ways to change thoughts that are troubling.

Some people have found that newer treatments, such as eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) and emotional freedom therapy (EFT) help with more immediate relief of symptoms.

Psychodynamic psychotherapy has also been found to be extremely helpful, often in conjunction with some of the other types, particularly if the symptoms are a result of childhood trauma.

When children are traumatized, they often become frozen in time developmentally. While they mature physically, there may be some emotional and social areas in which they have difficulty.

Psychodynamic treatment can aid in healing those early wounds and help the individual make up for what was lost.

In addition to those treatments already mentioned, some people find medications helpful to alleviate the anxiety and/or depression that you ma be experiencing.

Many people also find that becoming part of a support group is also helpful. The local social service agency or blue pages in the telephone book will likely have some leads.

Additionally, some people are helped by becoming involved in things that bring meaning to their life. Taking a class, working on crafts, and/or doing some volunteer work may help someone get through the days in a meaningful way as they work to resolve the PTSD symptoms.

Hope Makes Healing Possible!

Patricia Sherman, Ph.D., LCSW

Sometimes people wonder if traumatic memories can be repressed.

I'll talk about this in future blog entries, but I will give a brief overview now.

It is very possible for the mind to block out memory of the trauma as a way to try to protect the person from feeling overwhelmed.

Usually, however, even when conscious memories of the traumatic event(s) are not present, there are signs and symptoms that could suggest that something is wrong.

Sometimes people have problems with substance abuse, eating disorders, self-mutilation, anxiety, and/or depression.

It's important to know, though, that not everyone who experiences these difficulties is repressing a traumatic event. There can be many reasons for these behaviors.

In my experience, when someone reconnects to the memories of trauma, things start to make sense.

Often people will say something like, "Now I understand why I always felt uncomfortable when I drove down that street."

 Certain smells or places may have inexplicably caused discomfort.

Once the memories have been retrieved, people are able to understand thoughts and feelings they have had for years.

 Treatment can then consist of helping the person heal from the trauma and come to terms with what happened.

Hope Makes Healing Possible!

Patricia Sherman, Ph.D., LCSW

While psychoanalysis is not often thought of as the treatment of choice for PTSD, it may be helpful.

It would rarely be used by itself for the treatment of trauma. It might be used, however, in conjunction with other modalities, such as cognitive behavioral therapy or EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing).

Psychoanalysis, or some form of psychodynamic treatment, would be most helpful for those who have had extensive trauma, particularly trauma that occurred in childhood.

When children are traumatized, they often become frozen in time developmentally. While they mature physically, there may be some emotional and social areas in which they have difficulty.

Psychodynamic treatment can aid in healing those early wounds and help the individual make up for what was lost.

Hope Makes Healing Possible!

Patricia Sherman, Ph.D., LCSW

After Hurricane Katrina, I was asked how to keep the trauma from resulting in suicide.

While the immediate crisis from Katrina has passed, there is always the possibility of another mass disaster, so the response I gave that inquirer might be helpful.

If someone is at risk of suicide, hospitalization might be indicated until the condition can be stabilized. The person's ability to stabilize and stay safe will often be related to his/her stability prior to the current trauma.

If there were multiple losses experienced, the person is likely feeling the effects of being out of control as well as grief for the losses.

Crisis intervention strategies seem to be the most valuable at a time like this.

Helping the individual make as many decisions as possible often helps the person regain some sense of control.

If the person has any support system available, those people can be advised how to help the individual at risk. They can be taught the danger signs and what to do to get the person to safety.

In a mass disaster, it is likely that members of the support system may also be experiencing difficulties, so shoring them up can be helpful.

Hope Makes Healing Possible!

Patricia Sherman, Ph.D., LCSW

A rape survivor asked how to deal with the fear of the rapist finding her and her daughter. Here's my response:

First of all, if you reported the rape, make sure you are doing everything the police told you to do to keep you and your daughter safe.

You might ask if the police department can provide any extra protection for you. Sometimes police departments have emergency cell phones they can give to people in your situation.

If you cannot get one from the police, get one for yourself and program it to speed-dial 911. You can also program it to contact someone close to you that you trust.

Look for exit strategies where ever you are.

Be prepared to yell loudly should you see your attacker.

Carry a whistle around your neck and use it if you feel threatened.

The stronger you can help yourself to feel, the less of a victim you will be. Go to websites that have information on how to keep yourself safe.

There are many suggestions, such as carrying your keys with the metal between your fingers as you walk to your car, making sure you have someone walk with you when you are out at night; locking doors and windows in your home, etc.

It's perfectly OK and healthy to stay with friends and/or relatives for a while until you feel steadier.

Crisis intervention treatment can also be very useful to help you regain your equilibrium. Most communities have support groups that you can find by calling your local social service agency or looking in the blue pages of the telephone book.

Hope Makes Healing Possible!

Patricia Sherman, Ph.D., LCSW

Recovery time from PTSD varies greatly.

Reasons for this include the type of trauma, age at which the trauma occurred, whether the trauma was a single or repeated event, response of others around the traumatized person, and how soon after the trauma treatment was obtained.

Unfortunately, some people do not recover from PTSD. In an attempt to cope with the aftermath of the trauma and the symptoms of PTSD, they may turn to substances and/or develop a severe depression that can lead to death.

Even people with severe PTSD, however, can recover if they receive the proper treatment.

I am aware of someone who was repetitively and severely abused sexually and physically from ages 3-18; her successful treatment extended over a period of 15 years.

Hope Makes Healing Possible!

Patricia Sherman, Ph.D., LCSW

People often ask how to get past a trauma.

The natural human tendency is to try to ignore or forget both the trauma and its aftermath.

Unfortunately, trying to do that will generally create more difficulty.

The best way past it is to go through the healing process. Often that involves talking about and, perhaps, re-experiencing some of the pain.

True healing comes from rooting out the causes of the pain, not from covering it over.

It’s a bit like healing from third degree burns. The top layers of skin form fairly quickly, but they then need to be removed in order to allow the lower layers to heal. Healing must come from the inner layers so that infection does not cause serious complications.

This debriding (removal of the top layers of skin) is extremely painful. But without going through that pain, the body cannot truly heal.

Healing from emotional wounds often must follow a similar path. There are some therapeutic techniques, such as EMDR (eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing) and EFT (emotional freedom therapy) that can help one go through this process more quickly and with less pain.

I’m considering developing a series of teleseminars dealing with several different ways to heal from PTSD. These teleseminars would include experts on EMDR, EFT, psychodynamic and cognitive-behavioral approaches.

Please let me know if this would interest you and which specific intervention techniques you would like me to include.

Hope Makes Healing Possible

Patricia Sherman, Ph.D., LCSW

One of the aftermaths of trauma can be numbing.

It is the mind's way of protecting us from feeling the pain of what occurred.

Sometimes this resolves on its own, but if it has gone on for quite a while since the trauma occurred, then it is likely that therapy would be more helpful than just waiting for it to better.

There are a variety of therapeutic methods that have been found useful. Cognitive-behavioral therapy can be particularly helpful in dealing with flashbacks (which may start once the numbing stops); it teaches relaxation and ways to change thoughts that are troubling.

Some people have found newer treatments, such as eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) and emotional freedom therapy (EFT) help with more immediate relief of symptoms.

These techniques can be used along with more traditional treatment approaches, such as psychodynamic psychotherapy.

Hope Makes Healing Possible

Patricia Sherman, Ph.D., LCSW

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