Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Support Groups

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatment can include group therapy and support groups. Joining PTSD support groups is a challenge. After all, a key symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder is avoiding anything that triggers memories of the traumatic experience.

 

Once you're past this admittedly daunting challenge, group therapy with PTSD sufferers can be an effective post traumatic stress disorder treatment. PTSD support groups offer a safe environment where PTSD sufferers can communicate with people who understand how PTSD affects everyday life.

PTSD support groups can be found through a number of resources. In a large urban center, the phone book or directory may be all you need to locate group therapy with PTSD sufferers. Inquiring at local hospitals may also provide you with some contacts.

Local anxiety disorder associations may offer PTSD support groups, or they many know where group therapy for PTSD can be found. Many anxiety disorder association Web sites include contact information for support groups, and some offer PTSD forums online.

The National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a very helpful resource. In addition to information on PTSD support groups, the National Center for PTSD also offers information on post traumatic stress disorder treatment.

Post-traumatic stress disorder is a disorder of avoidance: Rather than risk flashbacks or terrifying memories, PTSD sufferers avoid anything that may trigger these events.

Joining PTSD support groups is daunting for this reason. The goal for group therapy with PTSD is to accept the trauma and find positive ways to cope with PTSD symptoms. This is the last thing many PTSD sufferers want to consider.

For this reason, group therapy with PTSD often starts slowly. As group members learn to trust each other and feel safe in the group environment, the support group can begin focusing on confronting traumatic memories.

Group therapy with PTSD can take three forms: a psychoeducational skills group, trauma-focused support groups and present-centered groups. Far from being mutually exclusive, these three PTSD support groups overlap and lead into each other.

Skills groups are often the first group therapy people requiring post-traumatic stress disorder treatment experience. A skills group teaches coping skills that help group members cope with PTSD's many symptoms. Techniques taught in a skills group include:

While regular attendance and participation in study support groups is encouraged, often neither is mandatory. Group leaders understand it takes time for a PTSD sufferer to feel comfortable in a group environment.

Trauma-based group therapy with PTSD is more intensive than a skill group but can be a very effective post-traumatic stress disorder treatment. During trauma-based group sessions, participants learn to confront their traumatic experience in a controlled, safe setting. Group members can offer support and advice during this very difficult stage of therapy.

The last variety of group therapy with PTSD is the present-centered support group. Present-centered PTSD support groups focus on the here-and-now. People with post-traumatic stress disorder are forced by their trauma to live in the past. Present-centered group therapy can teach PTSD sufferers to live in the present and, hopefully, begin to live their lives again.

It's very important that PTSD support group members work well together and interact with each other. For this reason, you may go through a screening process before being admitted to group therapy with PTSD sufferers.

If you are refused entry into a group, it isn't a personal attack. Therapists tend to create groups with similar experiences and backgrounds. If you are, for instance, a highly educated woman, you may not be a good fit for a group composed of low-income males. Other PTSD support groups may offer a better fit for you.

Generally, group therapy with PTSD follows a regular pattern from one meeting to the next. Each session starts with a check-in, where group members can discuss challenges and successes they experience between meetings.

After check-in, PTSD therapy groups work on the lesson or activity for that week. At the end of the session there is a check-out, where group members can discuss the meeting and get ready to leave the safe environment of the support group.

Be aware that PTSD support groups often assign homework that gives group members the opportunity to practice the skills they learned in group therapy. Homework can be time-consuming, so it helps if family and friends understand the importance of post-traumatic stress disorder treatment.

Online PTSD forums can be effective post-traumatic stress disorder treatment options and allow people who are not yet ready to face PTSD support groups the opportunity to interact with other PTSD sufferers without meeting face-to-face.

An online PTSD forum does have some drawbacks. A PTSD forum isn't necessarily moderated by qualified therapists. There's also the risk of receiving inaccurate information in a PTSD forum. On the other hand, a PTSD forum can introduce PTSD sufferers to helpful and supportive online communities.