Many people do not assume that they might need the assistance of a post trauma therapy. Symptoms that suggest they need help often do not appear at first. When they do the individual may be surprised. A while after the traumatic event one might find themselves in need of professional help due to the emergence of some very distressing symptoms (i.e., “flashbacks”, nightmares, “numbing”, irritability, anxiety, difficulty concentrating). On top of being sideswiped by these symptoms, they also may not have the benefit of having as much support around them as they did when the traumatic event just happened. At this point the quest for post trauma therapy usually begins.
There are various types of post trauma therapy that focus on: exposure to situations that remind the individual of the trauma, education, relaxation training, coping skill development, and family therapy for support. There is individual post trauma therapy as well as group post trauma therapy. A good number of individual suffering to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can benefit from one of the above mentioned approaches. However, sometimes symptoms are so debilitating that it might be recommended that the post trauma therapy include medication. Such situations might include, though are not limited to 1) severe symptoms in which the individual experiences hallucinations (not because they are schizophrenic, but because PTSD can sometimes result in hallucinations) 2) if the individual is also severely depressed and suicidal, 3) they are having substantial difficulty functioning day to day, or 4) if an individual has been in treatment for a while without improvement.
