Experiencing PTSD


While it may seem impossible to feel better, there are actually very effective approaches in PTSD therapy.

POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER


Many people experience traumatic events, but for some, that trauma significantly affects their stress levels and overall quality of life long after the danger has subsided.


We refer to this as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. When you experience PTSD, the effects of a prior negative experience may

overwhelm your body, mind, and emotions, often wreaking havoc in your nervous system.


Traumatic experiences are stored in the body, resulting in changes in the brain and cascading down to changes on a cellular and chemical level. The traumatic event might have passed, but your body and mind still behave as if the traumatic event is happening now.


PTSD is very common; in fact, post-traumatic stress is a natural response to a negative experience that was too intense to be processed at the time it occurred. During the traumatic event, your fight-or-flight response kicked in to cope with the immediate situation, but your brain could not make sense of the event at the time. As a result, it stores the event as a fragmented and unfinished record that keeps re-emerging because it is begging to be reprocessed and understood.


Your body and mind can heal and recover from PTSD. With the help of a PTSD therapist, the traumatic event can be processed and contextualized, allowing PTSD symptoms to be alleviated. The haunting memories can lose their intensity and grip over your present life.



  • What is PTSD?

    PTSD can be caused by any intensely negative experience that could not be properly processed at the time.


    PTSD is an anxiety disorder. It often comes with feelings of stress triggered even in the absence of a present danger.


    PTSD may occur in many other situations, including:


    • The loss of a loved one
    • An accident
    • Witnessing harm done to a loved one
    • A terrorist attack
    • A pandemic (like COVID-19)
    • A recession
    • Being victimized by rape, domestic violence or some other violent crime.

  • Facing Your Fear With PTSD Therapy

    With PTSD, there is often an urge to deny and push the traumatic event away when it resurfaces. Unfortunately, this approach rarely succeeds in truly getting rid of PTSD.


    Suppressing, denying, or distracting ourselves with other activities might work for a moment, but these are temporary fixes at best. PTSD and the anxiety that comes with it inevitably returns, often with even greater intensity. We refer to this dynamic as the cycle of avoidance.


    You cannot do away with PTSD by avoiding it, but reprocessing the incident in PTSD therapy can help you integrate it into your mind in a healthier way. PTSD therapy can help break the cycle of avoidance by changing how your mind and body relate to the traumatic event.

  • What Are The Symptoms of PTSD?

    Symptoms of PTSD may include:


    • Intrusive memories that sometimes seem as real as life
    • Anxiety
    • Recurring distressing memories
    • Intense nightmares
    • Unpredictable emotions
    • Flashes of anger, extreme moodiness or irritability
    • Strained relationships
    • Physical symptoms such as chronic pain, irritable bowel syndrome or fibromyalgia
    • Depression
    • Feeling of helplessness
    • Guilt, shame or self-blame
    • Jumpiness (quick to startle)
    • Difficulty with short-term memory (poor concentration and attention)
    • Extreme alertness (as if on the look-out for danger)
    • Paranoia
    • Isolation
    • Feeling of unease

  • Types of PTSD Therapy

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Important Details Before You Book...



Health Insurance


Fees for a Registered Social Worker (RSW) are covered under many private health plans or employee group benefit plans (often called “counselling” or “psychological” services.


If social workers are not listed, please contact your carrier as many will cover an RSW with a Masters Degree).



Tax Deductions


Registered Social Workers are authorized as ‘medical practitioners’ under the Canadian Income Tax Act for claiming medical expenses on income tax returns, through the Medical Expense.


Fee: My current hourly rate for individual counselling is $150/hour CAD.


It is my passion and purpose to inspire you with the guidance you need through every step of the way of your shift and/or healing. I seek to identify strengths and needs in both a compassionate and accepting way.


I look forward to assisting you in discovering

 your optimal life.



~Lynn Hiscoe


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