PTSD & Trauma

Do you keep experiencing a traumatic situation or a series of traumatic situations over and over again?

PTSD is diagnosed after a person experiences symptoms for at least one month following a traumatic event. However symptoms may not appear until several months or even years later. The disorder is characterized by three main types of symptoms:

• Re-experiencing the trauma through intrusive distressing recollections of the event, flashbacks, and nightmares.
• Emotional numbness and avoidance of places, people, and activities that are reminders of the trauma.
• Increased arousal such as difficulty sleeping and concentrating, feeling jumpy, and being easily irritated and angered.

Your body continues to send out stress signals, which lead to PTSD symptoms. Studies show that the part of the brain that handles fear and emotion (the amygdala) is more active in people with PTSD. Over time, PTSD changes your brain. The area that controls your memory (the hippocampus) becomes smaller.

I have had the honor to work with hundreds of 9/11 responders in the  World Trade Center Clinical Center of Excellence, Rutgers University.  This is a research and treatment program.  After I left the program, I continued to treat responders in my practice by referral from this program.

My longtime grounding in mind/body techniques enabled me to effectively partner with these heroic individuals in their healing journey.Depression Treatment.