PTSD Treatment Sarasota

Understanding What You're Really Dealing With

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder is a chronic, progressive condition that affects every aspect of your life if left un- or under-treated. Just like you wouldn't try to treat a heart condition on your own, trauma requires professional intervention from someone who understands how it lives in your body and disrupts your relationships.

Working with PTSD requires specialized treatment that often goes beyond traditional talk therapy. You need someone who understands how trauma intersects with anxiety, depression, substance use, and relationship difficulties. Trauma rarely exists in isolation, and effective treatment addresses the whole person, not just isolated symptoms.

The first thing we establish is safety. Not just physical safety, but emotional and psychological safety. You need to know that our sessions are a place where you won't be judged, pushed, or retraumatized. We move at your pace, and you maintain complete control over what you share and when you share it. Patients of mine often find this metaphor helpful: I’ll steer the car, but you work the gas and the brakes.

We'll work together to understand how trauma is showing up in your life right now. PTSD symptoms can be obvious like flashbacks and nightmares, or subtle like chronic fatigue, difficulty concentrating, or feeling disconnected from people you love. Many people don't realize their sleep problems, relationship conflicts, or work struggles are actually trauma responses.

Building trust takes time, especially when trauma has taught you that the world isn't safe and people can't be trusted. I don't rush this process because without trust, real healing can't happen.

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My Approach to Trauma Recovery

I utilize a variety of evidence-based approaches that have been proven effective for treating PTSD. Not every method will work for everyone, and your treatment will include a strategically designed combination of approaches. The goal in treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder isn't to forget what happened to you. That's not possible, and it's not even desirable. The goal is to transform traumatic memories from experiences that control your life into memories you can live with.

My Approach To Recovery From PTSD – No Traumatic Emotional Archeology

In 2010, I was incredibly blessed to have met Dr. Eric Gentry. For ten years, he served as my therapist, my teacher and my mentor in working with trauma survivors. Eric is a therapist, lecturer and author of a dozen books on recovery from trauma and PTSD. He developed Forward-Facing® Trauma Therapy (FFTT), a resiliency-based model that helps individuals recover from trauma by teaching them to regulate their nervous systems and reclaim personal agency. Unlike traditional trauma therapies that often focus heavily on revisiting and reprocessing past events, FFTT emphasizes forward motion—guiding clients to live intentionally in the present while building capacity for a meaningful future. It’s rooted in neuroscience and the understanding that trauma’s most lasting damage is not the event itself, but the dysregulated autonomic responses it leaves behind. The model draws from somatic theory, mindfulness, and cognitive-behavioral strategies, but uniquely centers on self-regulation as the foundational skill for all healing.

In practice, FFTT helps clients identify their stress responses, increase awareness of their internal state, and make moment-by-moment choices that align with their values rather than their survival instincts. A key element is teaching my clients to pause—to notice the urge to react from fear or habit and instead engage the parasympathetic nervous system through intentional breathing, posture, and thought. Over time, people I work with learn to live “forward-facing”—orienting toward the kind of person they want to be, rather than being tethered to what’s happened to them. Confident in their new-found resilience, my clients find they rarely look at the past anymore, and live in the sanctuary of this moment.

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Complex Trauma and Childhood Experiences

Many adults seeking trauma treatment are dealing with complex trauma. This means repeated experiences of abuse, neglect, or violence, often beginning in childhood. Complex PTSD, also known as C-PTSD,  requires a different approach than single-incident trauma because it affects your core sense of self and ability to form relationships.

If you experienced childhood trauma, you may struggle with issues that seem unrelated to PTSD:

• Difficulty trusting your own judgment
  
• People-pleasing and perfectionism
  
• Feeling like you don't know who you really are
  
• Chronic feelings of emptiness or numbness
  
• Difficulty setting boundaries with others
  
  

These aren't separate problems. They're trauma responses that developed to help you survive impossible situations. Understanding this connection is crucial for healing.

We focus heavily on building emotional regulation skills, developing a coherent sense of self, and learning to form healthy relationships. This work takes time, but it's the foundation for everything else.

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The Relationship between Trauma and Substance Use

It's incredibly common for people with PTSD to use alcohol or drugs to manage their symptoms. If you're drinking to quiet the nightmares, using substances to feel numb, or self-medicating anxiety and panic attacks, you're not weak. You're trying to solve a real problem with the tools available to you.

As a Board-Certified Addictions Professional, I understand the complex relationship between trauma and substance use. We can address both issues simultaneously, helping you develop healthier coping strategies while processing the underlying trauma that makes substances feel necessary for daily functioning.

Many traditional addiction treatment programs fail because they don't address the underlying trauma that drives substance use. Similarly, trauma therapy often fails if someone is actively using substances to manage their symptoms. Effective treatment addresses both issues together, understanding that they're two sides of the same coin.

The medical reality is that untreated trauma often leads to progressive substance use problems. Untreated substance use makes trauma recovery nearly impossible. Both conditions require professional intervention, and both respond well to appropriate treatment when approached correctly.

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What Trauma Recovery Actually Looks Like

You already know this part: PTSD treatment isn't a quick fix, and anyone who promises rapid results is probably selling you something that won't work. Healing from trauma takes time, courage, and the right professional support. It won't be easy, but it will be worth it.

Initially, we focus on stabilization and safety. You'll learn practical tools for managing symptoms while we build the therapeutic relationship necessary for deeper trauma work. This isn't about reliving every horrible detail of what happened to you. It's about helping your brain and body understand that the trauma is over and you're safe now.

The middle phase involves processing traumatic memories and experiences. We do this carefully, at a pace that doesn't overwhelm your system. You're in control of this process. We don't move faster than you can handle, and we don't push you to share more than you're ready to share.

The final phase focuses on integration and reconnection. You'll work on rebuilding relationships, pursuing goals that trauma derailed, and developing a sense of meaning and purpose beyond just surviving. Many clients find that healing from trauma allows them to help others in ways they never expected.

What You Can Expect:

• A thorough assessment of how trauma is affecting your life
• Education on the role of your brain - friend or foe?
  
• Development of practical coping skills for managing symptoms
  
• Processing traumatic memories at your pace and comfort level
  
• Learning to regulate your nervous system and manage triggers
  
• Rebuilding your capacity for healthy relationships
  
• Reconnecting with parts of yourself that trauma buried
  
  

Recovery from PTSD is possible, but it requires the right kind of help from someone who truly understands trauma. You've already survived the worst thing that could happen to you. Now let's work together to help you do more than just survive.

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Serving the Greater Community

My practice serves adults throughout the greater area, including Bradenton, Venice, Lakewood Ranch, and surrounding communities. I understand the unique challenges facing our community, from the isolation that can come with relocating to Florida, to the specific stressors affecting military families stationed at nearby bases.

I offer a free  consultation where we can discuss your specific situation and determine if trauma treatment is right for you. There's no pressure, no judgment, and no obligation. Often  just talking to someone who understands trauma can provide the clarity you need to move forward.

You don't have to live with the aftermath of trauma controlling your life. You don't have to accept nightmares, flashbacks, and constant anxiety as your new normal. With proper treatment, you can learn to manage PTSD symptoms, rebuild relationships, and reclaim the life trauma tried to steal from you.

The house of cards built on managing trauma symptoms alone will eventually collapse. The tears in the eyes of those you love when they see you struggling. The way trauma steals your joy, your peace, your ability to be present for the people and things that matter most. This doesn't have to be your story forever.