Treatment of Trauma, PTSD and Dissociative Identity Disorder

Treatment of Panic, Anxiety, Flashbacks and Other Kinds of Trauma Based Problems

Many counselors who do not have the adequate training, will try to help, but may do as much harm as good when treating Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), especially complex PTSD. 

Psychotherapists like Charleston, SC Psychologist David Berndt will work with you one step at a time, building skills like grounding and safety so you will have the resources to manage your feelings before you are asked to do the hard treatment work of getting your PTSD and trauma under control. 

"Trauma in PTSD can be as big as a searing battle experience or rape by a trusted adult, or as "small" as watching a car wreck with strangers, but if it left you damaged, you deserve to heal."

How do They Diagnose PTSD and DID?

If you served in Nam or the Middle East, you may have been diagnosed already with PTSD at the Charleston, SC VA hospital.  Another opinion and some alternatives to your treatment may be indicated. 

Or maybe you are on pins and needles for reasons you only vaguely recall, but are afraid to go to bed, and when you do fall asleep nightmares wake you. You can't even be sure how old you are, and maybe you do not remember big chunks of time. 

In order to qualify for this diagnosis of PTSD in DSM-5, the person likely was exposed to trauma related to death, serious injury or a sexual violation. Exposure in DSM-5 refers to the patient  experiencing it, witnessing it, learning of it, or having repetitive exposure to details of it.

As a consequence, trauma survivors often have anxiety and depression, startle easily, experience unexplained panic of flashbacks, nightmares, and avoid situations and predicaments that remind them of the trauma.

For persons with a Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) there is often a loss of time, when there is no memory (and not due to drinking or drugs). The personality is not very cohesive, and instead some parts of the person are "specialists" at handling certain tasks and roles, that may be unnacceptable or unacknowledged in the person seeking treatment, such as getting angry, saying "no" or escaping.