What kind of therapy has been the most helpfu... - Heal My PTSD
What kind of therapy has been the most helpful to you? Have you tried more than one? Please share your experiences in the comments below.
As you don't have a space for DBT (Dialectical Behavioural Therapy) I ticked the last box. I also have a diagnosis of Emotion Regulatoon Disorder (or BPD, Borderline Personality Disorder) and receive the DBT to help me with that.
Thank you, Mrs-Darling, for your reply.
That's a good observation, I wanted to expand the list but there is only limited number of options in the poll.
Perhaps we can do another vote on a poll which has just the other options differentiated ?
I am not sure as that's possibly more confusing.
Thanks for the suggestion though.
I hope that HU will allow more options than just 8 on a poll.
That's ok. It was just a little idea.
Thanks a lot. Ideas are welcome 
I thought about making 2 polls (part 1 and part 2) but I am thinking it could be too confusing so not sure if this would work.
Emdr did nothing for me. Tre only helped a little, exposure therapy helps a bit...but only as long as conditions don't change. I'm working on SE. Meditation has been helpful. That's the kind of training I need on a very long term basis.
I've been in therapy for a long time for complex PTSD and a dissociative disorder , and the most successful technique I've found is using the Internal Family Systems model in talk therapy.
I have a friend who just started an online class on Internal Family Systems and she speaks very highly of it. Funny that I've never heard of it and now twice in a week.
I've just finished psychodynamic counselling and am starting trauma focused CBT this week. Can I share my views on it once I've started it? And then vote, if any good?
Yes, of course you can vote anytime on the polls.
I would really appreciate sharing your feedback and experience once you have tried it.
Ok, thanks Nathalie. I'll feedback once on here once I've tried it.
Where is DBT and mindfulness tools and skills?
Polls offer only limited number of options, which is a pity. DBT would be covered by "Other" in this instance.
I will create another poll in the future regarding helpful techniques like mindfulness etc.
This poll is mostly focused on therapy modalities but I welcome a discussion about other tools as well.
With Complex PTSD I've tried about all of it.
1. Talk
2. Exposure
After that, I get some help from:
TRE
EFT
Somatic
I can't be hypnotized. EMDR was a train wreck for me.
One you left out is getting down and dirty with God. Where they hell were you.....
EMDR has been a lifesaver for me but difficult to get in my area and im going back to my MH aware MP.
Best for me:
1. Weekly+ talk therapy with a great LCSW psychotherapist- key here was finally finding a good fit - after decades of traumatic therapy
2. Certified Peer Support Specialist training - I took a week long course to become a CPSS in NC - so I am certified BUT taking the course was therapeutic for me as I went through it and in the time since I can feel the buoying effect that may be - yes slowly - helping me work toward reengagement - I have isolated myself for many years in my house I my bedroom so that I'm safe ... Whether or not I ever become an active Peer - this experience has proven super valuable
It's unfortunate that the most popular nothing worked reply is in the same category as others. Is there any way of changing this
I agree, it is a pity that there are only 8 choices max available so "Other" gets the most votes. I have reported this to HU.
I have only just been diagnosed with PTSD, although have been suffering since 2005 from an incident from the 1980's. so haven't had treatment.
EMDR and CBT-both at same time.complex PTSD it gives you ways how to cope,it's not a cure,flashbacks and nightmares ,reduced,or at times something can set it off.screaming bangs,smells anything to bring trauma back ,etc fireworks car backfiring.i dont watch tv.small steps is needed and lots of time.and an excellent physiotherapist NURSE,no point meeting others until you are ready.
with treatment,it can take you back to places you thought you locked away,how you cope with them is putting therapy into action ,actually doing ,not just say you will,patterns can and will appear.facing and taking that memory opens more,sometimes dealing with recent to oldest trauma .and for others myself included.oldest takes control,and dealing with that you can deal with other traumas till most recent.
there is no magic wand some people have no more flashbacks etc.
some may only ever get odd one or two.
others like myself we learn how to manage because it never goes away.
therapy will always be ongoing.
Have only had PTSD targeted therapy with emdr. My dr who I've been seeing for a long time has used mainly talking therapy with me till then and only for the symptoms of cptsd. So for things like depression, anxiety etc etc. I didn't tell my story to him for a long time so all he had until then was the symptoms of PTSD to work with. It became clear to him and easy to diagnose PTSD once I shared my story/life events with him.
She is using a bit of acceptance and commitment therapy and cbt thrown in with the emdr.
I tried traditional talk therapy for years and finally abandoned it about 20 years ago, as of no use to me and my problems.
I tried EFT in the past 5 years and found no real help for my problem in that.
But it was when I started somatic experiencing therapy three years ago that I truly began to make progress toward some resolution of my problem. And as I posted earlier this week I believe I have finally progressed enough with my core issue that I am sensing I have turned the corner.
I can't say many good things for the system that is out there. I finally quit the ludicrousness of all of it. They often do more harm than help. I've had the best results with any kind of energy work and cranial sacral therapy does it when there's nobody doing any energy work. Learning about the symptoms is invaluable and connecting with others is where I've learned alot of valuable insights. I have definitely learned more from people who suffer ptsd/brain issues than the so called professionals. Sorry, a little embittered after my last experience. I have wasted alot of time trying to find help from those who are supposed to help us, and not harm us. I'm appauled that there is no help for us....especially with so many people that deal with any of the ptsd forms. What is up with that??!!
I have tried nearly everything but essentially maintenance so far. Do the others get therapy via the NHS. I have been blocked by the psychiatrist attached to my GP practice. There has been a cover up of the fact that my ptsd arose from a malign ŕeferral so both I and my children have had to turn for private help.
[edited by admin] with some cognitive self guidance with a chemically supported reset and good quality company at an excellent senior center i joined 3 years ago after i got mugged [edited by admin]
now i am not hypervigilant just aware but anyway i play guitar and sing in my community center park and people approach me and we have lovely exchanges - SO healthy for me , i will miss it so much come winter but anxiet dpression support groups got me on track [edited by admin]
being around kind supportive people of all social capacities , away from the rabbot holes pf home and teapesing all over tge coty which is costly, and results too random. i can't be with family but i have affectionate relations with others though not involving any sex - it's been in my thoughts lately as i have felt so very healthy lately. this is nice as i am 62 [edited by admin]
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In the 'other' category I have found help with Yoga, secular mindfulness meditation, as one other person put it "getting down and dirty with God" He's big enough to take my anger. Music, friends, lots and lots of books (I HIGHLY recommend Brene Brown and Henry Cloud)
Cranial Sacral therapy has been helpful for me for some bodily stuff. Medication.
Keep trying stuff, keep reaching out.
I did CBT for 6months..and felt stuck EmDR has been the best for me....have done some somatic aswell.
Psychotherapist was by far the most helpful to me, whencovered under private health ins. Started having CBT on nhs it's not touching it as doesn't go deep enough to cover causes.
This worked for me. 😉
Sensory awareness grounding technique and EFT at those moments I'm heading to the dead zone lol! Breathing exercises for stress on youtube, Problem solving on my own, group therapy (reminding me I'm not alone in this - starting this again) Ativan. exercise.
medication did not work for me directly for ptsd (prazosine...), EMDR started off okay and then I had to stop after a bit as it got triggered and I kept at it and it just kept going off.
I've recently started trauma focused CBT having undergone 4-5 months of psychodynamic counselling. The trauma focused CBT definitely seems better for me so far. It seems to make far more sense. You learn mind calming exercises to ground the mind and then talk about the trauma and then do some more grounding exercises. You have to persevere as the exercises have to be done at home too. Ill feedback more once I've been doing it a couple of months.
Thanks for your feedback...
I wish the VA would come out of the dark ages. I wish they would stop this "one size fits all" approach. CBT and talk therapy is pointless and ineffective for me. If anything, it closes me up more. I wish they'd stop prescribing meds that work for a little while then plunge you into a suicidal abyss. It would be nice if they would at least allow us referrals to specialists and therapists who do the therapy that works for US... they should listen to US and allow us more say in how we are treated. All I wanted was hypnotherapy. They won't even entertain it. Here's some anti-depressants. No, they shouldn't have given you that, here's some anti-anxiety medication that gives you the runs so bad that it causes a whole NEW kind of anxiety on top of your "fight or flight" issues. Sigh.
I hear you. Same here. I found a private therapist which does somatic experiencing and hypnotherapy.
I did hypnotherapy in the 1990's with NO help from the VA... it was the absolute most effective thing I'd ever tried, but i ran out of money. The VA should be ashamed of themselves, not even entertaining us when we tell them what works.
I am also very much interested in the work of an organization called MAPS, which has been doing very successful studies with MDMA and marijuana. I have never done drugs other than pharmaceuticals (the latter being the most toxic and dangerous sh*t out there), but I am willing to try something that is proven to be more effective, non-addictive, with no harmful side effects (I can deal with having the munchies if it makes me want to die a little less). The MDMA studies have proven most effective with MST-type PTSD, and has lasting effects, permanent results without having to take medications for the rest of your life. I would think that, if the interest was not with making the pharmaceutical companies richer and instead with healing our troops, they would at least consider these things.
I hope you find what works for you as everyone deserves healing.
I think for me the most effective thing is therapy as I haven't found any medications that really help (except of tranquilizers).
But everyone is different and different things work for each of us.
You're very kind, but just like the VA, you didn't actually see what I was saying: I HAVE found what works. Hypnotherapy works for me. The VA just won't help me access it. I know you probably don't have time to read all the stuff we write, and you do as best you can to respond adequately, so don't take it personally when I say that nobody listens. They just don't. I am glad that therapy works for you; talking about the issues I have never get to the root of it because I cannot verbalize it, and the therapist cannot relate. Talking just becomes weird sounds, consonants and vowels and crying and recycling pain.
I do understand, as I couldn't access the therapy myself. I had to go to a private therapist.
I do hear you about hypnotherapy. I just thought that maybe you find something additional as well. Often it is not just one modality but a combination.
Talking therapy alone was not effective for me either.
I do read pretty much all of the posts and responses, I do take the time.
I would understand if you couldn't. So far, that was the only thing that worked. I think that, combined with the MDMA treatment, I'd be a "normal" person in less than a year. Of course, the VA is stuck with conventional, useless, antiquated therapies that work for some (and half of them are just lying to get by).
I hope you don't mind me asking but have you heard of a therapy called Trauma Release Exercise (TRE) which was pioneered by David Berceli? If you haven't, you could watch the YouTube videos of his work with Vets and other extreme trauma survivors. You may also have heard of Peter Levine and his book Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma, as it is the most sensible explanation and both these guys in my view (and I read A LOT!) help more than anyone on how to help trauma in a real, logical manner.
Yes, I have heard of both of them and I am myself working with a somatic experiencing therapist based on Peter Levine's method.
For me it is the best way to process the trauma, as it need to happen on so many different levels. The idea that trauma is stored in the body on cellular level changes everything and explains why so many talk therapies don't work for healing PTSD.
I was only diagnosed with PTSD a year past September I went through Imaginal Exposure Therapy for 5 of the 11months I was in therapy, it opened up the blackness within my brain that was there for two years previous I didn't dream at all for two years there was nothing there! I now dream but also have nightmares! It was exhausting and emotional and hard work but worth it! 😊Xx
Going to see the Community mental Health Team was my worst mistake.
All they could say to me was that I was not Moving on without understanding that I was stuck on something that had happened 27 years ago.
TRE (Trauma Release Exercise) is low on votes because it is usually only accessed privately; little is known about it; it can be difficult to find therapists. If you are interested in getting to the cellular level of your trauma however, TRE really gets to it. I strongly recommend watching the many videos by David Berceli, who pioneered the exercises, and psychologist Peter Levine who explains the value of the exercises in a clear and logical way. Worth a look/read for sure.
Counseling, art therapy, and writing in a journal.
I've used CBT services before when I was younger, although we didn't go too much into trauma based at the time, as I was too mentally fragile at the time to approach my past traumas. I've also used counselling services and talking therapies.
2 weeks?!?! LOL! It can take years to restructure your cognitive patterns, CBT,DBT,EBT are all intensive practices of changing thought patterns, and since we think so quickly, it becomes almost impossible. But, if you are determined enough, and work very hard, you can do it. Definitely know it works, stopped my panic attacks, got my depression and PTSD in check, and I almost got the anxiety covered, but it took half my life to learn how too.
mindfulness meditation, spending time with nature and puppies and kittens, journaling, breathing exercises, radical self care, song and dance
i believe i would benefit from seeing a therapist regularly or a life coach so i have someone to explore my trauma with in a safe environment and work on challenging limiting beliefs and changing toxic self destructive patterns
