A traumatic event is an overwhelming or uncontrollable experience that can happen to anyone. It may be a personally life threatening experience or may involve witnessing something that causes you to feel intensely horrified or helpless. After a traumatic stressor, some may develop post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. Some of the more typical traumatic stress responses include: distress when reminded of the event, avoidance of thoughts or reminders of the event, emotional numbing, social withdrawal, nightmares or intrusive images or thoughts of the event, jumpiness, irritability/anger, or sleep difficulties.
Therapy for PTSD
Treatment for PTSD involves confronting the memories of the stressor in a safe, supported, and methodical manner. This enables two main outcomes: you are able to process and make better sense of what happened, and you are able to take the “venom” out of the memory. While we can’t change the past, we can change the hold that the past has over you. Dr. Sze has advanced training in two of the most empirically validated treatments for PTSD: Prolonged Exposure (PE) and Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT).
If you are interested in finding out more about Dr. Jocelyn Sze’s PTSD therapy services in San Francisco, please click here to schedule an appointment or free phone consultation.