Comprehensive Trauma and PTSD Recovery: Psychotherapy, EMDR, Education, and Skill Development

Suzanne Friedman, PhD (202) 686-1155 ext 3

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She felt as though her insides had been shattered and glued back together with the wrong adhesive.  That’s how she described her experience of living with trauma during our third therapy session. 

Perhaps you too feel forever changed or that you are very different from other people.  Or you may feel as though you are just moving through life and that your world lacks color and energy. 

The effects of trauma may feel permanent, but they do not have to be.  You can feel better.  The word trauma is derived from the Greek word for wound – and wounds can heal.

What’s going on with me? 

Whether you grew up in a family characterized by chaos, or are an adult survivor of childhood abuse, a sexual assault survivor, or have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), trauma results in a characteristic set of symptoms.

You may experience some or all of the following:

·         Being on edge or afraid a great deal of the time

·         Feeling unfulfilled in your relationships

·         Experiencing unpredictable emotions, or feeling little emotion at all

·         Feeling empty and without purpose

·         Assuming the worst in most situations

·         Feeling that others cannot be trusted

·         Having a knot inside that you cannot untangle

·         Feeling that you are not really present, or that you are standing outside your body

Sometimes insight into the reason for your disturbance is simply not enough to manage your symptoms.  It still might be difficult to calm yourself or to change the way you think and feel.  I believe that this is because trauma is an invisible injury that resides in both our mind and our body. 

What is EMDR?

EMDR is a trauma reprocessing therapy that can bring symptom relief more rapidly and effectively than other forms of therapy.  Sometimes a traumatic memory is so overwhelming that it is not adequately processed by the brain.  When that happens the memory can become trapped in your nervous system with all the negative thoughts, feelings and sensations of the original incident.  TheEMDR approach activates opposite sides of the brain so that traumatic emotional experiences can be released and processed.  Following EMDR therapy, you may find that the traumatic incident has lost its emotional charge, that you are able to speak about it more easily, and that your body feels calmer and you feel generally more at ease.

Now what?

The ingredients essential to trauma work include strategies for both the mind and the body.  Insight-oriented talk therapy and education about the effects of trauma are central to the process but I have learned that an effective approach must also target and release those disturbing symptoms that feel locked in your body. Therefore, I typically incorporate additional techniques such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), mindfulness, and creativity as part of a comprehensive plan to help you resolve the physical symptoms of trauma.

Do I have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder?

A diagnosis of PTSD requires a very specific set of criteria.  In my experience any diagnosis you may have is less important than the constellation of symptoms you experience.  You are in pain and our goal will be to target your symptoms and help you understand and work through them so that you can lead a satisfied life.

What else you can expect from therapy?

·         An interactive conversation where your beliefs, feelings, and wishes are valued

·         Skill building, including useful ways to manage stress and assert yourself

·         Education about the ways in which trauma affects your brain

·         Discussion about safety and trust in relationships

Suzanne Friedman PhD  5100 Wisconsin Avenue, NW Suite 300  Washington DC 20016  drsuziefriedman@gmail.com  (202) 686-1155 ext 3

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