Coping with PTSD is challenging, but effective strategies can empower recovery. An estimated 12 million adults in the U.S. experience Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder each year. This staggering statistic highlights how widespread and impactful PTSD is. Learning effective coping strategies can lead to an improved quality of life and emotional regulation.
What Self-Care Practices Help Manage PTSD?
Managing your symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder does not have to be complicated. In fact, there are self-care practices that can be implemented on a daily basis that can be essential to managing your symptoms.
- Mindfulness: Mindfulness skills entails creating awareness of the present moment. PTSD is often rooted in the past. Bringing awareness of your environment at this very moment by noticing what you hear, see or smell can help you decrease reactivity to distressful thoughts and memories.
- Exercise: At a physical level, exercise reduces stress hormones in our bodies. Movement is also helpful in releasing tension in our bodies. Body movement can help us feel autonomous and like we have a sense of control.
- Establishing daily routines: A central team to traumatic experiences is uncertainty and uncontrollability. Having set daily routines can help with structure, predictability and safety.
How Can Social Support Ease PTSD Symptoms?
Connection, communication, and support groups play a vital role in the treatment of PTSD. Trauma often isolates us, making them us misunderstood or alone in our experiences. Building meaningful connections with others—whether through friends, family, or therapeutic relationships—helps foster a sense of safety and belonging. Open communication provides a healthy outlet for expressing difficult emotions, which can reduce internal stress and promote healing.
Support groups, in particular, offer a unique environment where we can share our experiences with others who truly understand what we are going through. This shared understanding reduces shame, validates emotions, and encourages hope. Being part of a supportive community helps can help you see that you are not alone in your struggle and that recovery is possible. It also provides you with practical tools and encouragement from others who are at different stages in their healing journey. For many, connection and support become the foundation for rebuilding trust, self-worth, and resilience after trauma.
What Professional Treatments Are Most Effective?
There are many approaches that can be utilized for the treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. However, we always recommend for individuals to seek help from trauma-trained professionals to avoid re-traumatization during the initial session. Evidenced-based practices have tested the test of time and research and are high recommended in this process.
- Psychotherapy Approaches:
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): CBT is an evidenced based practice that has been found to help reframe negative thought patterns surrounding experiences. When it comes to using a Cognitive Behavioral Approach to treating trauma, we always recommend finding a therapist that is specifically trained in Trauma-Focused CBT.
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR): EMDR is our personal favorite appraoch to trauma therapy. This evidenced-based practice targets and processes traumatic memories from a somatic and emotional approach. EMDR has been proven effective to treat PTSD symptoms and ongoing research supports positive clinical outcomes showing EMDR therapy as a helpful treatment for disorders such as anxiety, depression, OCD, chronic pain, addictions, and other distressing life experiences.
- Trauma-Focused Therapy: There are other approaches that provide specialized treatment addressing trauma’s emotional and cognitive impacts. It is important to see evidenced-based approaches in order to maximize a good prognosis in your recovery.
- Medication: It is important to note that we are not Psychiatrists; therefore, we are unable to prescribe or recommend psychotropic medication to any of our clients. We have found that a combination of multiple therapeutic approaches can be highly beneficial for our clients.
How Can You Build Long-Term Resilience?
Many people with PTSD improve significantly with proper treatment and support. They are able to engage in healthy relationships, build resilience, improve occupational functionality and resume to a post-trauma life full of wellness. Having a strong social network that promotes personal resilience can also be a positive influence in someone’s recovery.
Goal setting can be a strategy that can help us create hope for the future. Engaging in self-compassion and on going personal growth can foster a good prognosis for recovery. Every day is different and the journey may be difficult but hoping for a better tomorrow can keep your spirits up.
Conclusion
Combining self-care with professional help is important for a holistic healing approach. The most important work will happen outside of therapy through having a good support system, effective self-care strategies and a team of professionals that can assist you in managing your symptoms.
If you or someone you know is experiencing PTSD symptoms, reach out to a mental health professional. Healing is possible, and no one needs to face PTSD alone.
Note: While I am a mental health professional, this information is not a substitute for a formal evaluation. If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, please reach out at (407) 906-5214 to schedule an appointment for tailored support.
Mental health is a complex and highly individualized matter, and what works for one person may not work for another. The best course of action for anyone dealing with mental health concerns is to schedule an appointment with us for a personalized assessment, diagnosis, and treatment options. Please remember that seeking help from a licensed mental health expert is a vital step in addressing mental health challenges.
If you’re in crisis or experiencing thoughts of self-harm or suicide, contact emergency services or a crisis helpline immediately.
This blog post was written with the assistance of AI.
