Have You Experienced A Traumatic Accident With Persistent Symptoms?
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) occurs after experiencing a severely traumatic incident, or a series of less severe incidents. Complex PTSD can be experienced as a result of repeated childhood traumas.
It is completely normal to experience stress after a traumatic event, but the symptoms normally diminish after several weeks.
Symptoms might include re-experiencing the trauma through dreams, thoughts and flashbacks. A general increase in anxiety and vigilance is usually noted. If the symptoms persist, then trauma-focused CBT is currently recommended as the treatments of choice. Here at CBT Therapist we offer CBT Trauma Therapy Pretoria based which has been proven to be effective in most mental disorder categories and is therefore referred to as evidence-based treatment.
PTSD develops because the trauma experience was so distressing that we want to avoid any reminder of it. Our brains don't process the experience into a memory, so the experience stays as a current problem instead of becoming a memory of a past event. Each time we are reminded of the event, the 'flashbacks' mean we experience the trauma again, as though it is happening again, right now. That is very distressing, so we do our utmost to stop the flashback, and avoid any further reminder of the event, so the event remains un-processed.
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy helps our brain to process the traumatic event into a memory, filing it away in the appropriate filing cabinet of our mind, so that it becomes a past event, rather than constantly reliving the trauma as happening right now.
Cbt Therapy starts with the therapist, helping you to set goals without telling you what to do. You will continue to use this technique to improve your situation after therapy. In therapy you will think about or imagine the traumatic event in a safe environment with the therapist by your side, helping you deal with the anxiety which in the process will decrease. Inevitably, thinking and talking about the trauma may be upsetting at the time, but it will reduce the overall distress and resolve the problem. Unhelpful thoughts around the event and the future will be investigated. Relaxation and other techniques will also help you to reduce physical symptoms of anxiety.
If you require Trauma Therapy Pretoria based, please contact our Therapist, Dr S Pienaar to arrange an appointment by Calling 083 6316 499 between 8:30-9:00 or 18:00-18:30, alternatively please send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..