Talk Therapy. When people visualize talk therapy, they usually conjure thoughts of a therapist sitting in a chair beside their client who is reclining on a couch beside them. While lying down and speaking to a therapist is not disallowed, it usually isn’t what happens. Instead, the therapist and client typically sit facing one another at a comfortable distance.
During talk therapy, you will talk with your therapist about a variety of topics including those which trouble you the most. Your therapist will not give you advice, nor will they give you the answers to your problems. After all, they are not living in your mind nor are they living your life. Only you understand what you want out of life, and only you can find your answers.
Instead, what a therapist does is guide you, envision if you will a seeing-eye dog. They will warn you the traffic is coming, but ultimately it is you who decides to cross the street or not.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). This form of treatment involves the therapist attempting to help their client identify and change inaccurate thinking patterns which can lead to behaviors which are harmful or ineffective.
Your therapist will help you focus on the current problems in your life which were caused by adverse childhood experiences and how to resolve them today. CBT involves practicing new skills so you can function well in the world.
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT). DBT helps you learn how to regulate emotions. This form of therapy helps teach new skills to aid you in taking personal responsibility for your behaviors and your overall health. By taking such responsibility, you become more likely to implement the changes necessary to make your life more manageable.
Sand Tray or SandBox Therapy. Although not as well-known as the therapies listed above, sand tray or sandbox therapy isn’t just for kids; it is also an essential form of treatment for adults, as well. Sand tray therapy helps you construct a microcosm in the sand tray of your life and those connected to it using miniature toys and different colored sand. By doing this, the choices of objects you use to represent yourself and those around you help you recognize how you see yourself and resolve conflicts within you. It also helps you to gain acceptance of who you are as a human being.
For adults, sandbox therapy provides emotional release and realization of traumatic events in an atmosphere free from threats. Your therapist asks you to pick objects and figurines to represent the people you are conflicted with and place them in the sand tray. Then together with your therapist, you can work to understand the reasons you chose each figurine and the positions you have placed to understand better the truth behind how you feel about the people represented and any emotions you have attached to them.
Sandbox therapy can be potent, especially when you and your therapist begin to rearrange the symbols. Doing this together suddenly gives you a deeper understanding of how you see the people in your life and allows you to feel a sense of power over them.
Drama Therapy. Another immensely powerful tool therapists can use is drama therapy. This type of treatment involves a specially trained therapist who understands not only how to utilize trauma therapy but also can recognize when someone is getting into emotional trouble while using it.
Drama therapy is done in a group of people with whom you have been in group therapy before and have acquired trust. The therapist will ask you to relate a scenario you have been working on in private therapy and to choose people from the group to represent the other people involved.
One of the most powerful things about drama therapy is you can rewrite your history.
For More Information, Check Out Our Series, “What is CPTSD?”
My name is Shirley Davis and I am a freelance writer with over 40-years- experience writing short stories and poetry. Living as I do among the corn and bean fields of Illinois (USA), working from home using the Internet has become the best way to communicate with the world. My interests are wide and varied. I love any kind of science and read several research papers per week to satisfy my curiosity. I have earned an Associate Degree in Psychology and enjoy writing books on the subjects that most interest me.
Hi Shirley,
I am new to this site having been diagnosed with CPTSD , or complex trauma. I am curious as to why there is no reference to hypnosis, EMDR, yoga, meditation, exercise, pharmaceutical and an abundance of other treatments that are available, the article could come accross as being the finite list of options for CPTSD and therefore potentially lead someone down a path of limited options, if not possibly unsuitable.
The article would be much improved if the word “Some” treatment options were introduced?
Thank you for your comment. You are right. There are many options out there. To be honest this was one of the first pieces I wrote for the CPTSD Foundation. I will look at it in the morning. Thanks for catching this. Shirley
Hello Shirley,
This article is still missing a lot of vital information about working with CPTSD. Many people with CPTSD do not have the nervous system capacity to talk about their trauma. CBT and talk therapy can lead to increased symptoms.
Those with CPTSD from developmental stages when the verbal system was developing are likely to better with body-based approaches and can be triggered by top-down therapy.
You mentioned that you would review it, but reposted it months later.
It is really important that those who write about trauma treatment, really understand trauma treatment. This is especially true when writing for a trauma organization.
I am not a medical professional just a person with lived experience writing from her own experience if you will. I used psychotherapy to recover. I know I would not do well with body-based approaches or top-down therapy but should have included it anyway. Perhaps I should sit back and read some of the literature about these treatments to better understand because they seem to work for other people.
To be honest with you, I wasn’t aware we had reposted the article and as such did not get an opportunity to edit what I had already written.
Thank you for your comment. Keep checking on me. I’m improving with my understanding of trauma but I’m not perfect. Shirley
I have commented here before and had a similar almost automated response. I’m not sure where these copy writers are coming from , but given the relative nascent awareness of CPTSD and this is the .org site , the literature here should be exemplary and fully considered for the whole gamut of available therapies and their possible pros and cons.
I agree an cptsd survivor and cbt was a band aid over wounds. I do emdr internal family systems and somatic also uppirt groups. This is not an easy fix. This article is putting a person on a path which will still more yrs of their life. Emdr saves lives in cutting edge traums that is all that is being talked about
I need help north of Dallas. I can’t find a therapist. I’ve contacted no less than 16 And gotten no replies. I need a recommendation. I’m a survivor or extreme abuse, sexual abuse and sex trafficking. I need help. Please.
I’m sorry you’ve been through this
You are not slone.
CPTSD Foundation is compiling a data base to help folks find a therapist. They have volunteers to help you.
Gi to http://Www.cptsdfounfation.org click the contact us and fill out the form. Make sure to say you need help with finding a therapist. Shirley