Heal from Trauma and Regain Control of Your Life so You can Look Forward to the Future Again

Trauma is a normal emotional response to a significant adverse event or multiple events that cause intense fear, helplessness, or stress. Some examples of potentially traumatic events are losing a loved one, near-death experiences, serious injury, car accidents, sexual assault and violence. Trauma can result from personally experiencing such events, witnessing them, or learning that an event like this has happened to a close friend or family member.

What trauma does to a person varies widely. Short-term signs of trauma may include shock, confusion, agitation, exhaustion, numbness, dissociation, and denial about the event. More long-lasting trauma symptoms include intrusive flashbacks, difficulty sleeping, mood swings, emotional detachment, hopelessness, avoidance of activities associated with the trauma, and feelings of guilt, anxiety, and shame. Some people may even experience physical symptoms of trauma such as headaches and nausea.

Many people who experience trauma will be able to overcome the initial difficulties through a combination of coping strategies and the support of peers and family. Others have more severe or long-lasting experiences of trauma such as those who exhibit post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or acute stress disorder (ASD). To be diagnosed with PTSD, an individual must exhibit certain intrusive symptoms for longer than 4 weeks after the traumatic event.

Symptoms of PTSD may include recurrent and involuntary memories of the traumatic event, distressing dreams, flashbacks, avoidance of thoughts or external reminders of the traumatic event, inability to remember a key part of the event, exaggerated negative beliefs, persistent fear, anger, guilt, or shame, decreased interest in usual activities, irritability, hypervigilance, exaggerated startle response, and more. PTSD can have a significant impact on one’s sense of safety, hope for the future, relationships, and patterns of substance use. 

Yes, memory loss is a potential symptom of trauma. Someone with trauma may be unable to recall an important part of the initial traumatic event. In cases of ongoing traumatic events such as domestic violence or sexual abuse, trauma can result in dissociative amnesia, which helps a person cope or protect themselves from psychological damage by forgetting the details of a traumatic event.

Yes, it is possible to recover from PTSD. Everyone will have their own journey and timeline for doing so, depending on the severity of symptoms and the focus on recovering. Professional treatment should be sought to recover fully from PTSD. Contact us today to learn more about PTSD therapy in Toronto.

If left untreated, PTSD is likely to worsen over time. Without healthy ways to process and heal from trauma, any challenging situations in life may worsen PTSD symptoms. For example, being under stress from work or a new adverse event can make PTSD symptoms worse. Furthermore, untreated PTSD symptoms may lead to self-medication with alcohol and drugs, which can further worsen symptoms of trauma. 

You may be wondering, can you help yourself to cope with PTSD?  While it may be possible to heal from PTSD on your own, the chances of fully recovering are significantly better if you seek professional therapy for PTSD. At Ontario Mental Health Therapy, we have a team of diverse therapists who provide PTSD therapy in Toronto. Contact us to learn how you can recover from PTSD by using the tools and strategies that therapy offers.

The best therapy for trauma depends on the specific symptoms, experiences, and goals of the individual patient. Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) is one type of evidence-based therapy that can help you identify thought patterns and learn how to change these to reduce the intensity of your trauma symptoms. Another type of effective therapy for trauma is Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), which helps you evaluate how you view yourself, others, and the world around you and whether these feelings are factual. A type of therapy especially helpful for PTSD is Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy. It may help reduce the vividness and emotional intensity of traumatic memories by using eye movements and other types of rhythmic stimulation.

Keep in mind that you may find you respond better to one treatment while someone else finds a different type of trauma therapy more effective. At Ontario Mental Health Therapy, we work with you to identify your goals and determine the best trauma therapy approach for you. Our team has expertise in a variety of therapy modalities (including the ones mentioned above) that can help you heal from trauma.

Looking for PTSD therapists in Toronto? We provide online therapy for trauma and PTSD to residents of Ontario. That means you can get the trauma treatment you need from the comfort of your own home at a time that works best for your schedule. We offer appointments during the day, evenings, and weekends and sessions may be covered by your extended benefits plan. 

Trauma-informed therapy is therapy that is conducted with an understanding that a client may have experienced trauma in the past which could impact their mental health and behaviour. Viewing a client through a trauma-informed lens allows therapists to consider potential triggers based on past traumas and find ways to adjust to a client’s specific needs to ensure that the client feels safe during therapy sessions. At Ontario Mental Health Therapy, we conduct all therapy through a trauma-informed lens to ensure our clients are comfortable and able to meet their therapy goals.