PTSD often has a serious impact on your life and the lives of those around you. To reduce the stressful impact, it helps to learn how to cope with PTSD.
WALSHA helps you find the ways that work for you by really listening to you and understanding your experience of the trauma.
Our WALSHA approach results in noticeable improvement and a realistic happy life.
What is PTSD and how do I recognize it?
Sometimes people experience a profound event: loss of a loved one, being a victim or witness to an accident, violence, abuse … Usually you process these events spontaneously, but sometimes they lead to permanent trauma. When you fail to process that trauma or process it inadequately, we speak of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
PTSD is often accompanied by stress, a restless feeling, intrusive thoughts such as flashbacks to the event, helplessness, fatigue, nightmares, avoidance behaviors such as addiction to alcohol or drugs, avoidance of stressful situations, …. These symptoms are not always visible to the outside world. They may indicate PTSD, but to be sure, you should have PTSD formally diagnosed by a professional. You can go to WALSHA for a psychodiagnostic examination, after which we will help you on new coping behaviour.
I have PTSD myself, how do I deal with it?
The diagnosis of PTSD can come in hard, but it allows you to deal with PTSD in a more focused way. Through the WALSHA approach, you will find your way back to a stable life with higher well-being more quickly. Unlike trauma, PTSD does not pass on its own. So it is important to seek professional help and get PTSD treated. Although there are some tips that can help you cope better with PTSD and alleviate the symptoms:
- Go to your “safe place,” a (imaginary or physical) place where you feel secure.
- Share your experiences with a confidant. The more often you tell your story, the better you will process the trauma. Make sure you guard your boundaries well.
- Avoid the triggers of the traumatic event.
- Consciously create new positive memories.
- Allow yourself time. Post-traumatic stress disorder does not disappear in a few weeks. Be patient and take the time you need without comparing yourself to others.
- Remember: a healthy mind in a healthy body. Continue to eat a balanced diet, exercise enough, get to sleep on time and get a breath of fresh air regularly.
Someone close to me has PTSD
When your partner, child, parent, brother, sister, co-worker or friend has post-traumatic stress disorder, it affects you, too. You would like to help that person, but may not always know how. The important thing is that you are there for them. WALSHA would like to give you some tips on how best to deal with someone who has PTSD:
- Listen to the stories and experiences of your friend or family member. Even though you’ve heard the story several times, keep listening. For them, it is important to talk about it often and experience understanding.
- Ask deeper questions about the experience. Thus, dealing with PTSD becomes a more humane experience.
- Don’t give them false hope. Don’t tell them it will pass quickly. That way you avoid the pressure of expectations.
- Normalize the experience of PTSD symptoms.
- Establish trust and have integrity. People with PTSD are often distrustful. Having someone they can count on is golden in the process of learning to cope with PTSD.
- Ask what you can do and give a realistic picture of how you can/will meet expectations.
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Therapy forms that make coping with PTSD more bearable
The most lasting way to cope with PTSD is therapy. A professional psychotherapist helps you process your trauma so that the symptoms of PTSD quietly diminish or even disappear. WALSHA uses an integrative method in which we combine various psychological insights and forms of therapy into a sustainable counseling program for PTSD.
Conversation Therapy
We engage with you to understand the impact of the trauma, stabilize your situation and ultimately process the trauma.
Psychoanalysis
We explore with you the sensitivities from your past and look for a connection to the current experience of the trauma.
Hypnotherapy
We put you in touch with your inner experience. This technique is great for getting flashbacks under control so you can better cope with PTSD.
EMDR
We make you think back to the trauma while distracting you with visual triggers. The memory thus gradually loses its negative emotional charge.
Psychodrama
We let you relive traumatic situations in a safe way. The integration of behavior, feeling and knowledge significantly alleviates symptoms.
Cognitive behavioral therapy
You learn to reframe destructive thought patterns into constructive interpretations. We examine PTSD-related behavioral patterns and their function to better cope with PTSD.
WALSHA’s treatment of PTSD
Learning how to cope with PTSD and process your trauma happens in 3 stages. In the first phase, we focus on stabilizing your symptoms such as getting flashbacks under control. We try to reduce the most invasive symptoms and improve your daily functioning. We make sure your life returns to a normal pattern.
In the second phase, we guide you in processing the trauma. We confront you with the experience of trauma. Through psychotherapeutic techniques, we reduce the intensity of the experience and give it a manageable place and form.
In the third stage, you learn to integrate the processed trauma into your present and future life. WALSHA guides you in redefining you as a person and in the new turns you want to take in your life.
Life after PTSD
What does life after post-traumatic stress disorder look like? After you have given the processed trauma a place in your present life, there are still some expectations. On the one hand, it is important to learn to cope with possible limitations of PTSD. On the other hand, PTSD also brings new opportunities and insights. These lead to a new awareness and sense of purpose from which future choices are made.
Do you hope to be cured of PTSD? WALSHA provides a significant and lasting reduction in symptoms so you feel good about your daily functioning.
Our way of working
Would you like to be guided by WALSHA? This is how we proceed:
When you contact us, you will receive an intake proposal within 48 hours.
During the consultation, we discuss together how the trauma is affecting your life. We listen to your expectations and coordinate options.
After the introductory consultation, we will create a customized counseling plan to treat your PTSD. The plan includes your individual counseling program and, where appropriate, that of the environment involved.
We start the therapy and evaluate your progress in the interim to allow for any adjustments. At WALSHA, therapy for PTSD always takes place in a safe and comfortable setting.
When the therapy has brought sufficient stabilization and processing for you and you have learned to cope with your PTSD symptoms in the personal and professional sphere, we complete the therapy. Often people want to maintain counseling at a lower frequency afterward. At WALSHA, you are always welcome for further supportive guidance.
WALSHA’s unique approach
- intensive modular approach
- coaching program fully customized
- no long waiting lists
- independent center
- thorough diagnosis
- integrative counseling at your pace