Current Post

Trish Taylor, LPCC-S
Counselor, Insight Clinical Counseling and Wellness, LLC

Sure, the month of June rightfully gives attention to Pride and Juneteenth, both incredibly worthy and really important observances. (Woohoo!) While we’re raising awareness though, I’d love to nudge your attention toward something else that matters too: June is also PTSD Awareness Month. As a therapist who’s been specializing in trauma for many years, I figured this might be a good time to highlight a few less talked-about realities when it comes to PTSD and therapy.

We really need to talk about symptoms! One of the very first conversations I have with a new client is about symptoms. Seems obvious, right? This is more layered than most expect. Symptoms are not created equal, and more importantly: no two people experience them the same way. We trauma clinicians are often looking at what we call the trifecta: intensity, frequency, and duration. Those three little words tell us a whole lot about how your distress is showing up and impacting your life.

About diagnosing: Yeah, it’s complicated, but should never be invalidating. Ugh, the diagnosis conversation. I always educate my clients about this early on because when it comes to trauma, the water can get murky. A formal PTSD diagnosis, if we’re doing it properly by the book (and we should be), has a very high bar to meet. We have options and all of those options really need to be part of the conversation.

Here’s the part I need you to really hear: All of your symptoms are real and valid! Sometimes though… the diagnostic bar just isn’t met. That doesn’t mean what you’re going through isn’t trauma-related, it is. Remember, I said this can get murky – well, here’s where that mud begins. Before you come at me, hear me out.

My brain works in metaphors (because sometimes it’s easier): Imagine your current symptoms as a boat floating on the sea. Naturally, that boat gets rocked by waves right? Sometimes bold and scary, sometimes gentle and quiet.

Here’s where the metaphor gets maybe a little easier so hang on: Your trauma is the current underneath the water, silently pushing and pulling. Trauma influences the motion of the waves, even if it’s not always crashing on the surface.

Here’s the kicker: the surface of the water? It’s also reacting to the environment (people, places, and circumstances you’re exposed to right now.) So while trauma might be the deep driver of tidal waves, what’s happening around you can create a hurricane or waves too.

So What Are We Addressing? The Current? The Boat? The Weather? Sometimes the trauma is unresolved and those waves are full impact. Other times, maybe you’ve done some work. Maybe that current has softened, but now you’re facing storms from your environment (a rocky boat.)

In therapy, this is exactly what we’re sorting out together:

• Are we addressing unresolved trauma and that is something you want to do (the current)?
• Are we targeting the manifestation of anxiety or depression (the boat)?
• Or are we working with what’s happening around you (the storm)?

Whatever the case, the process always begins with understanding all the moving parts, without judgment. If this resonates with you, if your boat’s been feeling a little too shaky lately, you’re not alone. And yes, there is help. Even during hurricane season.